US stock futures pointed higher on Tuesday, as investors assessed a raft of executive orders from President Donald Trump and looked ahead to a fresh slate of corporate earnings.

By 03:42 ET (08:42 GMT), the Dow futures contract had gained 145 points or 0.3%, S&P 500 futures had risen by 15 points or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had increased by 43 points or 0.2%.

The main averages on Wall Street were closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Sentiment has wavered following Trump's inauguration, as initial relief that his executive orders did not include new trade tariffs was halted when the new US president told reporters that he was thinking about imposing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico from February 1.

In a note to clients, analysts at Capital Economics said they expect to see a "fair degree of volatility" to persist in financial markets "for a while yet", although they ultimately predict that Trump's first year in office will coincide with a rally in both stocks and the US dollar.