By Tanya Agrawal
(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open modestly lower on Tuesday, following three straight days of losses, on intensifying speculation that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as September.
Concerns about a rate hike pushed the blue-chip Dow index slipped into negative territory for 2015 on Monday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq touched their lowest levels in over a month.
Data on Monday showed U.S. small business confidence rose to a five-month high in May, with owners expecting a solid improvement in profits, which bodes well for the economy's prospects in the months ahead.
Investors will also keep an eye on job openings and labor turnover data for April. Job openings are expected to have increased from the previous month. The data is due at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT).
The sell off in stocks in the past few sessions followed a series of encouraging data reports, including stronger-than-expected May jobs data on Friday, that prompted expectations of rate hike in September, sooner than some expected.
"The market needs to pullback from a technical view," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
"High valuations are a risk to market and we may see a short-term correction."
The sell-off in U.S. markets on Monday spread to the global market, with European shares slipping to a 3-1/2-month low.
Concerns about Greece continued to weigh, with Athens handing its creditors new proposals on unlocking funds as time runs out to reach a deal to prevent the country from going bankrupt.
S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.75 points, or 0.08 percent, with 242,126 contracts traded at 8:36 a.m. ET. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 12.5 points, or 0.28 percent, on volume of 47,590 contracts while Dow e-minis were down 12 points, or 0.07 percent, with 49,979 contracts changing hands.
Lululemon Athletica shares rose 2.7 percent to $63.15 in premarket trading after the Canadian yogawear retailer raised its full-year revenue and earnings forecast.
Sage jumped 12.5 percent to $84.51 after the drug developer's experimental injectable drug was found effective in treating postpartum depression.
Dow component Apple was down 0.8 percent at $126.80, a day after the launch of its streaming music service, Apple Music.
Burlington Stores fell 7 percent to $50.10 after the off-price retailer reported weaker-than-expected quarterly same-store sales.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
