Stocks Opened Lower, Eyed on Earnings

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday as investors focused on earnings results, monthly car sales and factory-order data on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 1.84 points, or 0.01%, to 17,830.60. The S&P 500 fell 3.81 points, or 0.18%, to 2,100.24. The Nasdaq Composite was down 10.70 points, or 0.21%, to 5,116.45.

Freddie Mac (FMCC) on Tuesday said it lost $475 million in the third quarter, its first loss in four years, after earning $4.17 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. sales rose nearly 15 percent last month as the auto industry steered toward its best October in 14 years. The Italian-American automaker reported sales of about 196,000, led by the booming Jeep brand with a 33 percent increase. Sales were just over 170,000 a year ago.

Sprint Corp. reported a wider-than-expected fiscal second-quarter loss, and a surprise decline in sales. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the loss came to $585 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with a loss of $20 million, or 1 cent a share, in the same period a year ago.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. said Tuesday that same-store sales for its latest quarter climbed 9%, leading the teen retailer to raise its earnings forecast for the period to 34 cents per share.

BlackRock Inc.’s cash-management business has agreed to manage about $87 billion in assets for Bank of America Corp. clients as it seeks to build scale in an industry grappling with money-market fund regulations. The deal will involve merging Bank of America money funds and separate accounts into BlackRock’s offerings.

Activision Blizzard Inc. late Monday said it is acquiring King Digital Entertainment PLC for $5.9 billion, combining two giants of the videogame industry.

Oil recovered from earlier lows on Tuesday but remained well below $50 per barrel under pressure from a market supply glut. U.S. crude futures (CLc1) were up 31 cents $46.53 per barrel.