Luke KawaThe Globe and Mail
The Before the Bell report is updated throughout the premarket to reflect the latest news developments and market moves. Check back later for updates.
U.S. equity futures are lower Tuesday morning as investors digest a slew of earnings and position for the upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve statement, due out Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.
According to Bank of America, the forward overnight index swap rate suggested that there would be two rate hikes by the Federal Reserve as late as the fourth quarter of 2014; now, the market hasn't fully priced in a Fed hike by September.
Market participants' thesis that there will be a longer lag before liftoff could be affirmed or cast asunder when Wednesday's statement from the Federal Reserve is released.
"U.S. markets are increasingly cautious heading into the FOMC meeting and U.S. GDP data," said IG market strategist Stan Shamu. "This has kept the greenback on the back foot and risk currencies bid."
S&P/TSX 60 futures are also trading to the downside, with West Texas Intermediate futures giving back a little bit more of last week's gains.
Meanwhile, across the pond, the United Kingdom's gross domestic product rose just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year, two tenths of a percentage point lower than the consensus estimate.
"The value-added breakdown shows yet another negative contribution from construction and a zero contribution from production industries, but more importantly a marked slowdown in service activity," said Barclays senior European economist Fabrice Montagne.
Major European bourses are trading sharply to the downside.
Despite rumblings of potential unconventional monetary policy in China, the Shanghai Composite fell by more than 1 per cent while Japan's Nikkei posted modest gains.
Here's a look at the latest market numbers and other highlights ahead of the trading day.
Futures:
S&P 500 -0.36 per cent; Dow -0.38 per cent; Nasdaq -0.13 per cent
Equities:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.03 per cent
Shanghai composite index -1.13 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +0.38 per cent
London's FTSE 100 -1.12 per cent
Germany's DAX -1.38 per cent
France's CAC 40 -1.70 per cent
Stoxx 600 -1.39 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Jun) -0.58 per cent at $56.66 (U.S.) a barrel
Natural gas (Nymex May) -0.12 per cent at $2.487
Gold (Comex Jun) -0.02 per cent at $1,202.90 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Jul) +0.02 per cent at $2.7775 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 82.88 (U.S.), up 0.0014
U.S. dollar index down 0.376 at 96.389
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 1.9173 per cent, down 0.0035
ECONOMIC DATA:
Japan releases retail sales for March. U.K. releases first quarter GDP.
(8:45 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.
(9 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Consensus is for a rise of 4.7 per cent from a year earlier.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Conference Board consumer confidence index. Consensus is for 102.5.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Barrick Gold Corp. recorded adjusted earnings per share of five cents in the first three months of 2015, four cents below analysts' estimates. The miner also said that it plans to sell a portion of Zaldivar, its Chilean copper mine, to help shore up its balance sheet.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is considering investing over $1-billion in Brazil, predominantly in distressed assets, according to Bloomberg.
Pfizer Inc. posted slightly better than anticipated results on the top and bottom lines for the first quarter, but lowered its full-year sales and profit outlook, citing the stronger U.S. dollar.
Ford Motors Co. reported lower than expected profits in the first quarter but indicated that it would still meet its previous full-year earnings guidance. Shares have been down as much as 2 per cent in the pre-market.
Earnings expected Tuesday include: Acadian Timber, Ballard Power, Capstone Mining, Detour Gold, DH Corp., FirstService, Genworth MI Canada, Novadaq, Open Text, Sherritt, TransAlta, Yamana Gold, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Acadia Healthcare Company Inc., Aegion Corp., Aetna Inc., Aflac Inc., Akamai Tech Inc.,Alliance Resource Partners, Ally Fincl Inc, Applied Micro Circuits Corp., Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp., Boston Scientific Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Buffalo Wild Wings Inc., Capella Education Company, Carbonite Inc., Cirrus Logic Inc., Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., Coach Inc., Compugen Ltd. , Computer Task Grp, Corning Inc., Del Frisco's Restaurant Grp, Dynamic Materials Corp., Ecolab Inc., Edison Intl, EXCO Resources Inc., FirstSvc Corp., Ford Motor Co., Franklin Electric Co., GoPro Inc, Intrepid Potash Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp, Kraft Foods Grp Inc., Lexmark , McGraw Hill Fincl, Merck & Co., Oshkosh Corp, Panera Bread,Pfizer Inc, Range Resources, Sirius XM Hldgs Inc., SolarWinds Inc., Supervalu Inc., Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc, Tempur Sealy, Town Sports, Twitter Inc., United Parcel Svc Inc, United States Steel Corp., United Therapeutics Corp., Valero Energy Corp., Western Digital Corp., Wolverine World Wide Inc., Xoom Corp.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
CGI Group was lowered to "hold" from "buy" at Societe Generale.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was upgraded to "overweight" from "equal weight" at Morgan Stanley.
Newmont Mining Corp. was raised to "netural" from "underperform" at Bank of America.