Stocks May Give Back Ground In Early Trading - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session modestly higher, stocks may give back some ground in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a slightly lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 14 points.

Disappointing corporate news may weigh on the markets, with shares of IBM (IBM) moving sharply lower in pre-market trading after the tech giant reported weaker than expected third quarter revenues.

IBM reported third quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates but on a bigger than expected drop in revenues. The company also lowered its full year guidance.

Industrial conglomerate United Technologies (UTX) also reported weaker than expected third quarter revenues, although its earnings for the quarter exceeded estimates.

Meanwhile, insurance giant Travelers (TR) reported third quarter earnings and revenues that came in above analyst expectations.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department recently released a report showing that housing starts rose more than expected in September.

The report said housing starts climbed 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.206 million in September from the revised August estimate of 1.132 million. Economists had expected housing starts to rise to a rate of 1.147 million.

At the same time, the Commerce Department said building permits tumbled 5.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.103 million in September from 1.161 million in the previous month.

Following the strong upward move seen last week, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout the trading session on Monday.

The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing modestly higher. The Dow inched up 14.57 points or 0.1 percent to 17,230.54, the Nasdaq rose 18.78 points or 0.4 percent to 4,905.47 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.55 points or less than 0.1 percent to 2,033.66.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has fallen by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading crude oil futures are rising $0.09 to $45.98 a barrel after tumbling $1.37 to $45.89 a barrel on Monday. An ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,173.70, up $0.90 from the previous session's close of $1,172.80. On Monday, gold fell $10.30.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 119.78 yen compared to the 119.50 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1358 compared to yesterday's $1.1327.