Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as investors took a pause after record closing highs in the prior session, while markets continued to digest a deluge of earnings reports and keep an eye on global growth concerns.
The blue-chip Dow futures slipped 13 points, or 0.07%, by 10:57AM GMT, or 6:57AM ET, the S&P 500 futures fell 5 points, or 0.24%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave up 11 points, or 0.24%.
Financial stocks will once again be in focus with Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) preparing to report quarterly earnings before the opening bell. The bank is projected to book earnings of $3.04 a share on revenue of $7.58 billion.
In the meantime, Dow components UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) had already both produced better than expected numbers on Tuesday, while IBM (NYSE:IBM) beat consensus with its own numbers after Monday’s close.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was set to report after the market close on Tuesday.
In a notable move outside the blue-chip index, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) sank 12% in the pre-market after reporting a slowdown in customer growth.
On the economic calendar, the U.S. Commerce Department will release data on housing starts and building permits for June at 12:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET.
Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was scheduled to publish its updated economic forecasts with markets expecting a cut it global growth estimates from the previous projection of 3.5% for 2017.
The IMF will likely point to uncertainty surrounding the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), known as a Brexit, as one of the key factors for the decrease in its outlook.
German economic sentiment had already deteriorated to the lowest level since November 2012 in July, as the Brexit shock hit business confidence, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of economic sentiment for the motor of the euro zone economy plunged by 26.0 points to -6.8 this month from June’s reading of 19.2.
Meanwhile, oil prices added to overnight losses on Tuesday, falling back towards the lowest level in two months amid ongoing concerns over a global supply glut.
Market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products. The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels.
U.S. crude futures lost 0.37% to $45.77 by 10:58AM GMT, or 6:58AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 0.51% to $46.72.
Elsewhere, Asian shares closed lower, as a downturn in crude oil curbed the enthusiasm from fresh record highs on Wall Street. However, stocks in Japan outperformed, with the Nikkei rising for the sixth straight session as markets reopened after a public holiday on Monday.
Meanwhile, European stock markets retreated from a three-week high on Tuesday, as weak oil prices and disappointing corporate earnings reports soured the investing mood.