US pre-open: Oil offsets positive sentiment from Google parent results

US markets were set to continue falling with oil continuing to drop, offsetting positive sentiment from a jump in Alphabet’s earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was set to open down 114 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were expected to start the session 15 and 34 points lower respectively.

It’s a quiet day on the data front, with the ISM New York Index measuring business conditions due at 1445 GMT, while the IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism survey will be out at 1500 GMT.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Esther George will be speaking on the US economy at 1800 GMT.

The race to the White House also continues, with Ted Cruz winning the Iowa Republican caucuses with 28% over Donald Trump’s 24%.

In the Democrat race, Hillary Clinton marginally beat Bernie Sanders by only four state delegate equivalents - the closest in Democratic caucus history - and in some cases delegates being awarded based on a coin toss.

The next stop on the campaign trail is New Hampshire, with voting happening on Monday.

China and NZ buck the trend

Elsewhere, China and New Zealand led gains in Asia on Tuesday, while most other trading floors in the region took a breather from recent rallies.

A two-session rally had begun in Asia on Friday off the back of the Bank of Japan's surprise announcement of negative interest rates.

But the oil declines and the lower US trading overnight led to Tuesday's losses across much of the region, except for China and New Zealand.

Shanghai picked up in early trading, after news spread that the People's Bank of China injected CNY 100bn (£10.6bn) into the money markets in the form of short term loans.

The move was an obvious bid to stave off liquidity pressures ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, which begins on 7 February and lasts a week. It was the first of the usual two weekly money market injections the bank performs.

The Reserve Bank of Australia also held interest rates at 2%, which was widely expected, though it did lead to further losses on the ASX.

"The Reserve Bank was less upbeat on the global economic outlook, particularly for emerging countries, and has acknowledged a further slide in commodity prices and reduced appetite for risk", AMP Capital investment strategist Shane Oliver wrote in a note.

"[The central bank] seems more upbeat on the Australian economy at least, in terms of information released over the last few months", he added.

European stocks fell in early trade, with energy issues pacing the decline following dismal results from oil major BP as oil prices slid.

Oil prices continued to fall, with West Texas Intermediate down 3.29% to $30.58 a barrel and Brent dropping 3.94% to $32.89.

The dollar was down 0.24% against the euro and dropped 0.19% against the yen but gained 0.19% against the pound. Spot gold was down 0.29% to $1,125.16.

In company news, shares in Google’s parent company Alphabet were up nearly 7% after posting stronger than expected fourth quarter earnings after the market closed on Monday of $4.9bn. As a result, it is set to surpass Apple’s market capitalisation for the first time.

US-listed shares in BP are also expected to fall over 8% after the company said $2.6bn of write-downs and restructuring charges sent it crashing into losses for the fourth quarter and full year.