By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures slipped Tuesday after markets registered advances in nine of the last 11 sessions, with the housing market returning to the spotlight as Home Depot releases quarterly results and a home building confidence gauge is released. S&P 500 futures fell 2.1 points to 1,104.20 and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 3.25 points to 1,800.20. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points. U.S. stocks rallied Monday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave no indication that he would take actions to back up his stated preference to promote the greenback, helping continue the market's recent rise that's been attributed to a weak dollar and ample liquidity. The S&P 500 rose 15 points and closed above 1,100 for the first time this year, the Dow industrials contributed 136 points and the Nasdaq Composite rose nearly 30 points. "A steep slide in the dollar would be the death knell for the great reflation engineered by the Fed. But the Fed chairman's concerns about the currency's current level are not yet serious enough for him to abandon his interest-rate policy," said Jean-Baptiste Pethe of Exane BNP Paribas. San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen made similar comments from Hong Kong on Tuesday, asking whether monetary policy should be used to lean against "potentially dangerous swings in asset prices. The answer is far from clear, because the use of monetary policy for these ends necessarily compromises the attainment of other macroeconomic goals." Treasury inflow data for September, due for release at 9 a.m. Eastern, may show that countries haven't stopped buying up U.S. debt despite the dollar's woes. The dollar was higher Tuesday morning, with the dollar index (DXY 75.16, +0.32, +0.43%) up 0.4% to 75.20. Also out ahead of the open is data on wholesale prices and industrial production for October, and, at 1 p.m. the NAHB's housing market index for November will be released. Home Depot (HD 27.65, +0.31, +1.13%) results also will be eyed for the home-improvement retailing giant's view of the U.S. housing market. Rival Lowe's (LOW 21.74, -0.11, -0.50%) said Monday its profit plunged 30% but that it has seen improvement in some of its worst hit markets including California, Florida and areas of the Southwest. Discounter Target (TGT 50.29, +1.30, +2.65%) also is due to report results. Pacific Sunwear of California (PSUN 5.01, +0.22, +4.59%) is expected to drop after it expects a current quarter loss greater than analysts had anticipated as same-store sales drop by a low-twenties percentage. Its third-quarter loss was $10.9 million. Financials led a pullback in Asia stocks, with the Nikkei 225 falling 0.6% and the South Korean Kospi falling 0.4%. Banks also led a modest downturn in Europe, where the Stoxx 600 fell 0.1%. Gold futures dropped over $8 an ounce and oil futures weakened 56 cents a barrel.

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