Wall Street set for higher open as oil steadies

US stock indexes were set to open higher on Tuesday, tracking a rise in crude after a strike by oil workers in Kuwait affected production from the OPEC country.

Crude rose more than 1%, shrugging off Sunday's failed talks among producers to tackle a global glut.

A recent rebound in crude, some signs of a slow recovery in the US economy and the Federal Reserve's caution over raising interest rates have helped stocks rally in the last two months.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 18,000 mark for the first time since July. The S&P 500 closed just 40 points below the record high it touched last May.

However, traders seemed cautious about the sustainability of higher oil prices.

"Really, it's like a party that's gone on for too long. It just takes one little thing to happen and the party breaks up and people run out like roaches," said Phil Davis, chief executive of PSW Investments.

Poor earnings from Dow components IBM and Goldman Sachs threatened to push back the index below 18,000, he added.

Goldman Sachs shares were down 1.4% at $156.85 in premarket trading after the bank's profit fell for the fourth straight quarter.

IBM fell 3.9% to $146.63 after it reported its worst quarterly revenue in 14 years.

At 8:32 am ET, Dow e-minis were up 45 points, or 0.25%, with 37,631 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were up 8.75 points, or 0.42%, with 223,731 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 29.25 points, or 0.64%, on 29,399 contracts.

While US corporate earnings are seen as a swing factor for the stock market, expectations are bleak.

First-quarter earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to fall 7.7% on average, and revenue by 1.3%, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Netflix shares were down 8.6% at $99.05 premarket after the video streaming service's subscriber forecast missed estimates.

Harley-Davidson rose 6.1% to $49.80 after the motorcycle company's results beat estimates.

Data on Tuesday showed US housing starts fell more than expected in March, suggesting some cooling in the housing market in line with signs of a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter.

The weak data could add to expectations that the US Federal Reserve would remain cautious on raising interest rates.