Stocks are set to kick off little changed, following yesterday's modest gains.
The Dow Jones average is heading for a five point fall after closing at 18,054 last night, while the broader-based S&P 500, which ended the day at 2,101 yesterday, was trading at around the same level on spread betting sites.
One of the reasons for the lethargy may be the relatively quiet agenda for economic data, with the highlight likely to be existing home sales, which are tipped to have risen to 5.29mln from 5.14mln.
The weekly crude oil inventories are also out this morning, and the expectation is for a sharp fall to 2,117k barrels from 6,634k the week before.
The oil price could come under pressure are oil workers in Kuwait agreed to end their strike.
On the results front, charge card firm American Express (NYSE:AXP) and fizzy drinks maker Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) are set to report – the former after today's close and the latter before the open.
"Although this latest run up in US equities puts the market within a stone's throw of the 2015 record peak, investors should proceed with caution, as there is very little to fundamentally justify the performance,” opined Joel Kruger, a foreign exchange strategist at LMAX branching out and trying his hand at equities analysis.
“It seems market participants have grown comfortable relying on a blind faith that the Fed will continue to err on the side of accommodation, and all will be well in China, but the more unsettling reality of exhausted central bank policy should not be ignored, as it leaves very little room for this artificially supported market to remain elevated at lofty heights," he added.
Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist at DailyFX, sounds a bit more upbeat about prospects for equities.
"Risk sentiment trends remain an important input as the first-quarter corporate earnings reporting season continues. Results from 25 companies in the S&P 500 including consumer powerhouses Coca Cola and Yum Brands as well as important financial names US Bancorp and American Express are on tap. Thus far, sales and overall earnings have topped estimates by 0.09 and 4.63 percent respectively on average, with 58 firms in the benchmark index having announced," Spivak said.