By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Cautious start for European stocks after suspected suicide bombing in Manchester

U.S. stocks headed for a fourth straight session of gains on Tuesday, with futures creeping higher before a round Federal Reserve speakers and readings on the manufacturing and services sectors in May.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 47 points, or 0.2%, to 20,925, while those for the S&P 500 index climbed 4.30 points, or 0.2%, to 2,397.25. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index picked up 12.50 points, or 0.2%, to 5,714.50.

The small advances come after all three benchmarks ended Monday's session with gains (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-poised-for-a-steady-open-as-investors-watch-for-the-next-catalyst-2017-05-22), rallying after last week's losses as tech and industrial stocks rallied.

Markets in Europe traded slightly higher on Tuesday after a cautious start following the suspected suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/death-toll-rises-to-22-in-suspected-suicide-bombing-in-manchester-2017-05-23) in Manchester, England, on Monday night that left at least 22 people dead.

Economic news: On Tuesday in the U.S., attention turned to Fed speakers, ahead of the release on Wednesday of the central bank's minutes from its May 2-3 meeting.

At 9 a.m. Eastern Time, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is slated to meet with reporters covering the bank's conference on opportunity and inclusive growth (https://www.minneapolisfed.org/institute/conference-series/opportunity-inclusive-growth-institute-conference). At 3:15 p.m., he'll meet with reporters again in a round-table discussion on building economic well-being in Native American communities.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is due to give a speech on the economic outlook at an event in New York at 5 p.m. Eastern.

Also on Tuesday's economic docket, May flash readings on purchasing managers indexes for services and manufacturing come out at 9:45 a.m., and new home sales for April are due at 10 a.m.

Stock movers: Shares of Agilent Technologies Inc.(A) rose 4.3% in thin premarket volume after the maker of scientific equipment late Monday raised its earnings and revenue guidance for 2017.

Other markets: Oil prices slipped, coming off a one-month high reached on Monday amid hopes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will extend production cuts into next year.

Gold prices also dropped and the dollar traded mainly lower.

Asian stocks closed mixed.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 23, 2017 05:00 ET (09:00 GMT)