By Fred Imbert, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher Tuesday morning.

At around 04:10 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 8 points, indicating a positive open of more than 9 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both marginally higher.

Market players remain focused on China-U.S. trade news, amid some concerns regarding plans to sign a trade deal in the coming weeks. President Donald Trump said Friday that he had not agreed to scrap tariffs on Chinese goods – His comments followed news earlier last week, from the Chinese commerce ministry saying that both sides had agreed to cancel existing tariffs in phases.

On Tuesday, President Trump will be speaking at the Economic Club of New York where he could give clues the status of trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Instability in Hong Kong is also on investors’ radar. Hong Kong’s main index, the Hang Seng, rose fractionally Tuesday. This, after dropping 2.5% on Monday amid further protests.

On the data front, the calendar is thin, with only the NFIB Survey due at 06:00 a.m. ET.

In corporate news, CBS , Nissan , Datadog and DR Horton are reporting Tuesday.