NEW YORK, July 29 - U.S. stocks are poised to open a bit higher on Tuesday as investors await July consumer confidence data, the first in a series of reports this week that could show proof of improvement in the U.S. economy. Investors will also digest a slew of corporate quarterly reports on Tuesday including those from blue-chip Dow index components DuPont Co. , which posted higher second-quarter earnings, and McDonald's Corp. , whose earnings per share fell. The Conference Board will release U.S. consumer confidence for July at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) on Tuesday. The consumer confidence reading is forecast to be 85.0, compared with a reading of 83.5 in June. Key economic reports coming this week include the Chicago Purchasing Management Index on Thursday, and on Friday, the July nonfarm payrolls, a read on gross domestic product and the Institute for Supply Management's report on manufacturing. Standard & Poor's 500 stock index futures for September were up 2.40 points at 996.40, while Nasdaq futures for the same month crept up 3.00 points to 1,286.50. Futures for the Dow industrials index rose 23 points to 9,255. "The market is being fueled higher by evidence from corporate America and an overall sense that the economy is improving," said John Person, head financial analyst with Infinity Brokerage Services. The stock market has rallied since March on the expectation an economic recovery is underway. Corporate America's second-quarter results have largely been on target, but not stellar enough to satisfy investors looking for clear signs corporate profits are set for a turnaround. DuPont, the second-largest U.S. chemical maker, reported higher second-quarter earnings as stronger nutrition and agricultural sales outweighed higher energy costs. McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food company, said second-quarter earnings per share fell as higher costs offset recent sales improvement in the United States, its largest market. Tyco International Ltd. posted a quarterly profit on Tuesday, reversing a year-ago loss, as the conglomerate restated results dating back to 1998 in a bid to clean up the accounting mess left by its former leadership. Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. telephone company, on Tuesday posted a quarterly profit despite a large one-time charge, but revenues were essentially flat as gains from its wireless business were offset by a decline in its local and long-distance unit.