07:16 AM EDT, 08/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were inching higher before Tuesday's open ahead of some key corporate earnings results while investors await the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Standard & Poor's 500 edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq added 0.2% in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed. The majority of Asian exchanges were tracking in the green, while most European bourses were trending lower midday on the continent.

With no economic reports scheduled for Tuesday, traders await the latest financial results of Lowe's (LOW), Medtronic ( MDT ) , Amer Sports ( AS ) and Premier (PINC), among others, scheduled to be released before the bell. Keysight Technologies ( KEYS ) , Toll Brothers ( TOL ) , Coty ( COTY ) and La-Z-Boy ( LZB ) disclose earnings after markets close.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) increased 2.5% as the cybersecurity firm saw a surprise increase in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. Xpeng's ( XPEV ) US-listed American depositary receipts rose 2.5% as the Chinese automaker's second-quarter loss narrowed year over year.

The two-day Jackson Hole symposium is scheduled to kick off Thursday, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell due to speak Friday.

On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is scheduled to speak at 1:35 pm ET, while Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr speaks at 2:45 pm.

Before the opening bell, bitcoin advanced 3% to $60,781, West Texas Intermediate crude was unchanged at $74.37 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries inclined 1.2 basis points to 3.88% and gold increased 0.8% to $2,562 an ounce.