--Stock futures rise after strong German data, Spanish debt auction

--Economic expectations in Germany surprisingly rose in December

--Demand at Spanish auction of short-term debt exceeded expectations

--Retail sales data, Fed policy statement on tap

--DuPont gains on 2012 outlook, Best Buy falls after missing estimates U.S. stock futures gained ground Tuesday morning, as surprisingly positive economic data out of Germany and a successful auction of Spanish debt helped lift investor sentiment ahead of retail sales data and the Federal Reserve's policy statement.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 58 points, or 0.5%, to 12001. The Dow slumped 163 points on Monday, but had been down as much as 243 points at its intraday low.

Standard & Poor's 500-stock index futures tacked on 8 points, or 0.7%, to 1237 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 14 points, or 0.6%, to 2305. Changes in stock futures do not always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.

European markets erased earlier losses to trade broadly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.7%, after Germany's ZEW survey for December showed that economic expectations had improved despite expectations that they had worsened.

In addition, an auction of short-term Spanish debt exceeded its target, with the Treasury selling EUR4.94 billion of 12-month and 18-month bills, and at lower yields than at the previous auction.

Meanwhile, Asian bourses were broadly lower on the back of Monday's losses in the U.S., with China's Shanghai Composite shedding 1.9% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average losing 1.2%.

Gold futures inched fractionally higher to $1668.90 an ounce, while crude oil futures edged up 0.7% to $98.42 a barrel. The U.S. dollar lost ground against the euro and the yen.

On the economic calendar, data on retail sales in November is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. EST. Investors will also be focusing the conclusion of the Fed's last policy setting meeting of the year, and the release of its policy statement at around 2:15 p.m. EST, for clues of any potential changes.

Earlier, data showed that small-business optimism improved in December for a third-straight month, as the outlook for the labor market improved and as expectations for real sales gains turned positive.

In corporate news, shares of DuPont gained 1.4% in premarket trading after the blue-chip chemical company provided an upbeat earnings and revenue outlook for 2012.

Best Buy slumped 9.1% after the consumer electronics retailer reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of expectations, but confirmed its full-year earnings outlook.

Primerica said Citigroup is offering to sell its remaining equity stake in the company, and has commenced a public offering of 8 million Primerica common shares. Citigroup rose 1.2% and Primerica slipped 2%.

Urban Outfitters climbed 11% after the apparel retailer said in a regulatory filing that fiscal fourth-quarter same-store sales were tracking in the "mid single-digit" positive range, following a 2.6% decline in the third quarter.

Cabot Microelectronics rallied 22% after the company proposed a recapitalization plan that includes paying a special cash dividend of $15 a share and nearly doubling the size of its existing share repurchase program.