WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Trading in the U.S. index futures suggests that Wall Street stocks may open modestly lower, as risk appetite is lost amid a sour German economic sentiment reading and some disappointing European corporate results. The dollar is firmer and most commodities are lower. Meanwhile, most Asian stocks fell, with the exception of Japan, even amid dovish message relayed by the RBA meeting minutes. The domestic markets may keep a tab on another flow of earnings from companies such as UnitedHealth (UNH), Philip Morris (PM) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and the housing starts report for June.
As of 6:15 am ET, the Dow futures are slipping 24 points, the S&P 500 futures are receding 6.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are moving down 12 points.
U.S. stocks advanced on Monday, with M&A news and positive earnings lending support to the markets.
On the economic front, The Commerce Department is set to release its housing starts report for July at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect housing starts to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.170 million units, while building permits are expected at 1.150 million units.
In major corporate news, IBM (IBM) reported better than expected second quarter adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations and revenues.
Yahoo! (YHOO) reported adjusted earnings per share and revenues for the second quarter that trailed estimates. The company is in the process of finalizing suitors for its core Internet business.
Netflix (NFLX) reported better than expected second quarter earnings per share and in line revenues. However, subscriber growth during the quarter was weak. The company's subscriber growth forecast for the third quarter is also weak.
EMC Corp. (EMC) reported better than expected second quarter non-GAAP earnings per share and posted consolidated revenues of $6 billion. VMWare's (VMW) second quarter results topped estimates.
Cintas (CTAS), Discover Financial Services (DFS), Marvell (MRVL), Microsoft (MSFT) and United Continental (UAL) are among the companies due to release their quarterly results after the close of trading.
Most Asian markets retreated, although the Japanese market, which opened after Monday's public holiday, advanced as the yen remained weak.
The Japanese market rose for the sixth straight session, with the Nikkei 225 average opening higher. After a lackluster morning session, the index rose steeply in the afternoon, ending up 225.46 points or 1.37 percent at near a 1-1/2 month high of 16,723.
However, Australia's All Ordinaries re ended down 5 points or 0.09 percent at 5,534, snapping its 8-session winning streak. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at 21,673, down 129.98 points or 0.60 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index ended down 6.97 points or 0.23 percent at 3,037.
On the economic front, the minutes of the latest RBA meeting showed the central bank is awaiting further information on growth and inflation before considering further policy easing.
European stocks started lower and have seen further downside since then amid the release of some disappointing corporate and economic news.
In major corporate news, Akzo Nobel reported second quarter EBIT that were ahead of expectations, although it cautioned of challenging conditions. Telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERIC) reported a decline in operating profits for the second quarter and said it would cut costs further. Dragged by competition from generic drugs, Novartis (NVS) reported a drop in second quarter profits and also forecast profit declines for the year.
On the economic front, the ZEW survey showed that economic sentiment in Germany plunged in July to the lowest level in more than 3 years. The economic sentiment indicator for Germany fell to -6.8 from 19.2 in June. Economists expected a reading of 9 for the month.
A report released by the U.K. Office for National Statistics showed that annual consumer price inflation in the U.K. Came in at 0.5 percent in June, faster than the 0.3 percent rate in May. Economists expected inflation to accelerate to 0.4 percent. The producer price inflation report showed a slower rate of decline in both input and output prices.
Another report showed that the U.K. House price index rose 8.1 percent year-over-year in May, the same rate of increase as in April.
Eurostat reported that construction output in the eurozone fell for the fourth consecutive month in May, dropping 0.5 percent month-over-month. Annually, construction output was down 0.8 percent.
Euro area banks expect the ongoing growth in the demand for loans to continue in the third quarter, as credit conditions may be eased for housing loans and consumer credit, the results of a survey by the European Central Bank showed.
However, the ECB said the latest Bank Lending Survey was conducted between June 14 and 29 and it may have been too early for banks to assess the implications of the June 23 referendum in the U.K.
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