US open: Stocks trade lower following modest gains in previous session

dl wall street st new york city nyc nyse stock exchange ny dow jones nasdaq sp finance us usa united states of america — Wall StreetSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were firmly in the red early on Tuesday as corporate earnings, geopolitical tensions and a downgrade in global growth forecasts were all in focus at the bell.

As of 1455 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.60% at 33,814.33, while the S&P 500 was 2.03% weaker at 4,320.47 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 2.42% softer at 13,520.34.

The Dow opened 550.17 points lower on Tuesday, reversing gains recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip index staged its largest intraday comeback since March 2020.

However, stocks were in the red yet again on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, scheduled to wrap up at 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

Geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine were also in focus, with President Joe Biden speaking with European leaders amid fears of a Russian invasion, as was the impact of the Covid-19 Omicron variant on the economic recovery after the International Monetary Fund took an axe to its global growth forecasts, saying it now expects a figure of 4.4%, down from previous estimates for a reading of 4.9%.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was slightly lower at 1.753% early on Tuesday.

In the corporate space, General Electric shares slumped after the company topped quarterly earnings expectations but missed on revenues.

Elsewhere, 3M reported better than expected earnings, American Express also topped expectations amid 'record' card spending, Lockheed Martin posted an earnings beat, and Raytheon Technologies also surpassed fourth-quarter earnings estimates,

Xerox's Q4 earnings and sales took a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, and Johnson & Johnson posted mixed earnings but said it expects to see $3.5bn in Covid vaccine sales in 2022.

After the close, Microsoft, Capital One and Texas Instruments will all report their latest quarterly figures.

On the macro front, S&P/Case-Shiller's house price index increased 18.8% year-on-year in November, despite being the start of a traditionally slower season for the home market. The 10-city composite rose 16.8% year-on-year, down from 17.2% in October, while the 20- city composite grew 18.3%, down from 18.5% in the previous month.

Still to come, the Conference Board's January consumer confidence report will follow at 1500 GMT.

Dow Jones - Risers

American Express Co. (AXP) $167.27 5.25%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $130.09 0.99%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.26 0.58%
3M Co. (MMM) $173.53 0.42%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $162.89 -0.05%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $139.65 -0.39%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $78.43 -0.51%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $160.38 -0.57%