US STOCKS-Futures flat a day after S&P touches record high
* Futures up: Dow 20 pts, S&P 2 pts, Nasdaq 5.75 pts
Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Tuesday as investors looked for market-moving catalysts, a day after the S&P 500 index touched a record intraday high.
* On Monday, Wall Street closed down in one of its lowest volume trading day this year, after the S&P slipped from its record high as healthcare stocks weighed.
* Investors will continue to assess the rest of second-quarter earnings and economic data to justify valuations.
* While earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to decline at a slower rate than anticipated at the start of the season, investors worry that the earnings recession may spill into the third quarter.
* Analysts polled by Reuters expect third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 components to fall 0.2 percent, as of Monday. They had estimated a 0.2 percent rise on Aug. 3, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* However, a forecast-beating payrolls report on Friday has helped bring back some of the risk-on mode in the markets. Safe havens gold and the Japanese yen were lower on Tuesday.
* Oil prices were largely flat after rising 2.5 percent on Monday on renewed hopes that OPEC members would work out a plan to freeze output.
* Investors will also keep an eye on economic data including a Labor Department report at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT), which is likely to show productivity rose 0.4 percent in the second quarter after declining 0.6 percent in the preceding quarter.
* If the trend of robust economic data continues, it could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sometime this year.
* Valeant rose 7.3 percent to $24.12 premarket after the company maintained its full-year forecast and announced strategic changes to its business.
* SolarCity, the target of an acquisition by Tesla , was down 3.4 percent at $23.50. The company is scheduled to report results after markets close.
* No Fed official is scheduled to speak this week.
Futures snapshot at 7:24 a.m. ET:
* Dow e-minis were up 20 points, or 0.11 percent, with 8,187 contracts changing hands.
* S&P 500 e-minis were up 2 points, or 0.09 percent, with 79,778 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 5.75 points, or 0.12 percent, on volume of 7,979 contracts. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)
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