Stocks Opened Lower before Earnings

U.S. stocks began Tuesday with modest declines as investors waited for the start later on Tuesday of the U.S. quarterly earnings season and after the International Monetary Fund offered another outlook of slower global growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 19.27 points, or 0.14%, to  Dow Jones 13,564.38.  The S&P 500 index declined 2.29 points, or 0.16%, to 1,453.59. The Nasdaq Composite lost 18.91 points, or 0.61%, to 3,093.44.

Shortly after 4 p.m. EST Tuesday, the big aluminum (AA) maker unofficially kicks off another earnings season. The Dow 30 component is expected to break even on an earnings-per-share basis. Sales are forecast at $5.56 billion, according to FactSet. 

Plagued by uncertainty and fresh setbacks, the world economy has weakened further and will grow more slowly over the next year, the International Monetary Fund says in its latest forecast. Advanced economies are risking recession, the international lending organization said in a quarterly update of its World Economic Outlook, and the malaise is spreading to more dynamic emerging economies such as China.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded shares of Netflix Inc. (NFLX) to underperform from buy because the stock had exceeded the firm’s $72 a share price objective as of Monday’s close of $73.52 a share. Shares of Netflix Inc. (NFLX) dropped in premarket trades on Tuesday.