1. Apple under investigation

The European Commission will demand Tuesday that Ireland recover unpaid taxes dating back many years from Apple, according to multiple media reports. A spokesperson declined to comment but the Commission has scheduled a news conference for 10:00GMT with its chief antitrust official.

The EU watchdog has been probing the tax arrangements of Apple, Amazon and Starbucks in European countries over concerns the firms were getting a special deal from governments hoping to attract companies.

Apple has already warned that the investigation could force it to pay a decade's worth of back taxes to Ireland.

2. USD at 2-week highs

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 95.83 early Tuesday, the most since August 12. It was last at 95.75 09:55GMT, up 0.2%.

Investors looked ahead to upcoming U.S. data to gauge if the world's largest economy is strong enough to withstand a rise in borrowing costs in the coming months.

The Conference Board is scheduled to release a report on U.S. consumer confidence for August at 14:00GMT. There is also S&P/Case-Shiller home price data at 13:00GMT. Besides the data, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is due to give an interview on Bloomberg Television at 10:30GMT.

Investors are pricing in a 27% chance of a rate hike by September, down from 36% a day ago. December odds were at around 59%, compared to 65% on Monday, suggesting that traders are still not convinced that the Fed will hike rates in the coming months.

3. Global markets overview

U.S. stock futures are holding steady.

European markets are mostly positive in early trading, though mining companies are weighing on the main U.K. markets. Asian stocks are generally faring well.

On Monday, The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6%, while the S&P 500 added 0.5% and the Nasdaq inched 0.3% higher.

4. Oil prices rebound

Oil prices were higher on Tuesday, rebounding from steep overnight losses as market players shifted their focus to weekly data from the U.S. on stockpiles of crude and refined products.

Industry group the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report at 20:30GMT later on Tuesday. Official data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday.

U.S. crude was up 36 cents, or 0.77%, to $47.34 a barrel during morning hours in New York, while Brent tacked on 28 cents, or 0.57%, to $49.73.