U.S. futures reversed Monday's gains and were pointed down sharply across the board Tuesday morning.
World markets were not doing any better, especially in Asia where the Nikkei dropped 3.1% and the Hang Seng declined 1.9%. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down 1.2%, the Dax fell 1.9% and the CAC 40 declined 1.7% with about three hours left in trading.
Energy prices were also declining Tuesday with industry benchmark Brent crude contracts for June delivery falling $0.33 to $45.50 per barrel while West Texas crude contracts declined $0.47 to $44.31 per barrel.
March auto sales data will be trickling in throughout the day Tuesday with industry watchers expecting total vehicle sales of 17.3 million on an annualized basis. That total is up from the 16.6 million annualized vehicle sales from March. Today's release comes ahead of the monthly non-farms payroll report that is due out Friday.
Earnings season continues today with several big name companies releasing their quarterly results before and after the opening bell.
Shares of Pfizer (PFE) were up nearly 3% premarket following its earnings release. The drug company reported first-quarter earnings of $0.67 per share, well ahead of analysts' $0.55 per share expectations for the quarter. Revenue for the period rose 20% year over year to $13.01 billion, also ahead of Wall Street's $12 billion expectations.
CVS Health (CVS) shares were also rising following its earnings beat. The specialty drugs and retail company reported a 19% increase in first-quarter revenue, though its profit fell 6% in the period to $1.15 billion, or $1.18 per share. Those results topped analyst expectations by $0.02 per share.
Molson Coors (TAP) could receive a tailwind Tuesday after the company reported earnings of $0.54 per share, topping analyst estimates by a dime. Revenue for the period fell 6.1% to $657.2 million vs. expectations of $627.9 million.
Shares of insurer AIG (AIG) were down more than 3% premarket after the company reported a 47% decline in bottom-line, first-quarter results, reporting earnings of $0.65 per share, well below analysts' $0.99 EPS guidance.
Clorox (CLX) shares were up after topping Wall Street third-quarter expectations. The company earned $1.23 per share in the quarter, $0.02 better than analysts were expecting. Revenue of $1.43 billion also topped Street forecasts of $1.41 billion.
Finally, CBS (CBS) will be in the spotlight after-hours as it is scheduled to release its earnings results after the closing bell. The media company is expected to report earnings of $0.94 per share on revenue of $3.83 billion. Both of those totals are ahead of the results the company reported in the year-ago period.
