U.S. stock index futures signaled a flat open on Tuesday after the world's largest cell phone company said it was selling phones for higher-than-expected prices, but near-record high oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.
U.S. light crude rose 57 cents to $69.31 a barrel, boosted by mounting tension over Iran's nuclear program and supply disruption in Nigeria, raising concerns about the effects of higher energy prices on corporate profits. Oil hit a record $70.85 in August.
"Nokia and Micron are both helping, along with Alcoa's decent earnings with crude oil as a backdrop, holding futures down," said Todd Clark, director of stock trading at Nollenberger Capital Partners in San Francisco.
Nokia said the average selling price for its phones in the first quarter was above the company's earlier forecast, boosting shares of rivals such as Motorola Inc.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.3 point, just above fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 9 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3.5 points. Shares of Motorola rose 1.4 percent, up 32 cents to $23.55 in trading on the Inet electronic brokerage network.