In the pre-market, the MSCI Europe index was down 1.4%.

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Japan's monthly consumer-sentiment index, after plunging in the wake of the disasters, is nearing pre-March 11 levels.

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Emerging markets could also open higher, with the MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) index up 0.61 percent in the pre-market.

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The Gini index, which measures inequality between the social classes, went from a pre-tax level of 0.402 when Carter took the helm in January 1977, to a slightly worse 0.406, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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The consumer price index and industrial production and capacity utilization data all came in very close to pre-report expectations by the market place.

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The iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ) shows the same technical damage and was trading 7.6% lower pre-market Tuesday in New York.

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The index has plunged 59% since the beginning of the year and is down 94% from the pre-crisis peak.

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Finally, apart from these long-term demographic trends, the 2012 Kauffman Index data show the rate of business creation falling from 2011, returning for the first time to pre-recessionary levels.

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