Stocks Drifted Lower ahead of Earnings

U.S. stocks drifted lower in the early trading on Tuesday ahead of the earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 142.73 points, or 0.84%, to 16,849.18. The S&P 500 was down 15.49 points, or 0.79%, to 1,949.33. The Nasdaq Composite fell 38.78 points, or 0.87%, to 4,416.02.

The International Monetary Fund slightly lowered its outlook for global economic growth this year and next, mostly because of weaker expansions in Japan, Latin America and Europe. The IMF said Tuesday the global economy will grow 3.3 percent this year, one-tenth of a point below what it forecast in July. World growth should then pick up to 3.8 percent in 2015, two-tenths of a point lower than its previous estimate, the IMF says in the latest installment of its World Economic Outlook.

U.S. home prices increased in August, yet the pace of these gains continues to slow, helping to improve affordability for would-be buyers. Prices rose 6.4 percent in August compared with a year ago, Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics Co. estimated its third-quarter operating profit more than halved from a year earlier, hit by weak smartphone sales, leaving the company little choice but to rely more on its chip business to drive future earnings growth. Its third-quarter operating profit likely fell 57.8% to 61.8% from a year earlier to between 3.9 trillion won ($3.6 billion) and 4.3 trillion won.