US pre-open: Futures trade lower as investors look to Q3 retail earnings

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Tuesday as market participants digested Q3 earnings from some of the nation's largest retailers.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.52%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.28% and 0.14% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 55.39 points lower on Monday following a mixed session for major indices.

Corporate earnings will likely take centre stage on Tuesday, with retailer Walmart topping Q3 earnings and revenue expectations, leading it to raise its full-year guidance, while Lowe's also hiked its full-year guidance after posting an earnings beat.

Escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine were also drawing an amount of investor attention before the open, with Russian president Vladimir Putin warning the US that the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons has now been lowered after Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use US weapons to strike inside Russia. Under the new doctrine, Russia will consider using nuclear weaponry if it, or its allies, were met with the use of "conventional weapons that created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity".

On the macro front, October housing starts and building permits figures will be published at 1330 GMT.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com