LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures returned to winning form Tuesday as the dollar retreated and some grew optimistic on an economic recovery.
S&P 500 futures rose 6.3 points to 1,066.70 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 11.25 points to 1,739.00. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56 points.
A retreat in commodity prices -- and a rise for the U.S. dollar -- on Monday sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down by 41 points and the S&P 500 off by 3 points, though the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite rose 5 points after Dell's $3.9 billion deal to buy Perot Systems.
The dollar dropped on Tuesday, however, as the euro hit a fresh 2009 high, with the shared currency briefly moving above $1.48 for the first time this year.
Gold futures strengthened to $1,016.90 an ounce.
The greenback of late tends to fall when there's good news on the economy, as the low interest rates in the U.S. make the currency attractive to borrow against. On Monday, the Conference Board reported that its index of leading economic indicators rose for the fifth straight month.
"This index has provided a pretty accurate guide of U.S. economic growth momentum for decades and it is now pointing to an imminent return to positive territory," said Dermot O'Leary, an economist at Irish brokerage Goodbody Stockbrokers.
"It is likely that the extent of the downturn is exaggerating the strength of the rebound but if more data like the July retail sales confirms that the worst has passed for the U.S. consumer, this could indeed be a more sustainable recovery than we have thought for some time. The tides are turning."
The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day interest rate meeting, and traditionally it doesn't comment on the first day.
The U.S. Treasury is selling $45 billion of two-year notes, and data on house prices in July are due at 10 a.m.
Tuesday also marks, in the northern hemisphere at least, the beginning of autumn. It's the day when markets are more likely to reverse than any other, Barron's reported, citing research from the late technical analyst W.D. Gann. See story.
Of stocks in the spotlight, Carnival (CCL 32.00, -0.26, -0.81%) rose in London ahead of its earnings report, as Merrill Lynch added the cruise ship operator to its "Europe 1" list of preferred stocks.
ConAgra Foods (CAG 22.33, +0.01, +0.04%) also is due to report results.
AMR (AMR 9.03, +0.38, +4.39%) , the parent of American Airlines, may see pressure after disclosing it's planning to sell 30 million shares and $250 million of convertible notes.
Building products firm Louisiana Pacific (LPX 7.22, -0.26, -3.48%) also may see pressure as the group is selling up to 18 million shares.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 rose 1% and the Kospi Composite added 1.4% in Seoul as Samsung Electronics said it would increase chip production to meet growing demand.
