Stocks headed for higher open

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Stocks were headed for higher open Tuesday, after China reported a large trade surplus and investors await reports on wholesale inventories and home prices.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) futures rose between 0.5% and 0.6% ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

Early Tuesday, China's General Administration of Customs announced that China's monthly trade surplus grew for the second month in a row. The world's second largest economy reported a massive $11.43 billion surplus in April, up from its $1.68 billion in the same month last year.

"They are a huge, huge consumer nation and they are able to produce massive amounts of goods and services that they are able to export," said Tim Speiss, chairman of the Personal Wealth Division at EisnerAmper.

Top officials from the United States and China are currently meeting in Washington D.C., and trade issues are top of mind.

"It is all about making sure there is fair trade between China and other countries," said Speiss.

U.S. stocks rose Monday, as commodity prices bounced back. But the gains were tempered by worries about the fiscal crisis in Greece.

What is key, say experts, is how long it takes the European Union to deal with the situation. "The longer a lot of these decisions are postponed - Greece included - creates uncertainty," Speiss said.

Last week, stocks posted moderate advances, after a steep sell-off in the euro dampened U.S. investor enthusiasm about a stronger-than-expected jobs report.

The biggest two hurdles for the U.S. economy are jobs and the deficit, Speiss said. Higher employment rates mean higher greater consumer confidence and therefore greater consumer spending.

Economy: The price of imports into the United States increased 2.2% in April, while exports only advanced 1.1%, according to a report released Tuesday morning by the Labor Department.

The Commerce Department will report on wholesale inventories at 10 a.m. ET.

Also on tap at 10 a.m. ET is the quarterly report on home prices from the National Association of Realtors.

Companies: Software giant Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) said it agreed to buy Internet video call company Skype for $8.5 billion, including the assumption of debt. Shares of Microsoft ticked down very slightly in premarket trade.

Microsoft buys Skype

Shares of online marketplace eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) rose 3% in premarket trade. In November of 2009, eBay sold its 65% stake in Skype for $1.9 billion to an investor group.

In other tech news, The Wall Street Journal reported that search giant Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) is supposedly entering the music cloud business.

Dow component Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) will report after the closing bell Tuesday. Analysts polled expect the media giant to post a profit of 56 cents a share.

World markets: European stocks rallied in mid-day trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.3%, the DAX in Germany jumped 1.6% and France's CAC 40 also jumped 1.6%.

Asian markets ended the session higher. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.6% and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was closed for holiday.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rallied against the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.

Oil for June delivery slipped 47 cents to $102.08 a barrel early Tuesday. Late Monday, oil prices rose by 5.5%, or $5.37, as investors jumped back into commodities.

Gold futures for June delivery rose $14.60 to $1,517.80 an ounce.

Silver futures for July delivery edged $1.48 higher to $38.60 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury was little changed and the yield was 3.16%.