Stocks Opened Sharply Lower, Oil Futures Fell

U.S stocks opened sharply lower on Tuesday, joining a global stock market downturned sparked by a renewed fall by Chinese equities and amplified by a round of disappointing earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately tumbled 449.28 points, or 1.77%, to 24,868.13. The S&P 500 fell 54.85 points, or 1.99%, to2,701.03. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 179.18 points, or 2.40%, to 7,289.44.

Oil futures fell Tuesday, with traders focusing on Saudi Arabia’s pledge to play a “responsible role” in energy markets despite international criticism over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell $1.09, or 1.6%, to $68.27 a barrel. December Brent crude was off $1.38, or 1.7%, to $78.45 a barrel.

McDonald’s (MCD) reported third-quarter earnings and same-store sales that beat expectations. Net income totaled $1.64 billion, or $2.10 per share, compared with net income of $1.88 billion, or $2.32 per share, year-over-year. Sales for the quarter totaled $5.37 billion, down from $5.75 billion last year.

Caterpillar (CAT) announced quarterly results that were a bit better than expected. Q3 revenue climbed 18% to $13.5 billion, which was slightly better than the $13.3 billion expected by analysts. Earnings came in at $2.86 per share, up from $1.95 a year ago and a penny better than expected.

3M Co. (MMM) reported third-quarter profit and revenue misses and issued downbeat 2018 guidance. Earnings for the latest quarter rose to $1.54 billion, or $2.58 per share, from $1.43 billion, or $2.33 per share in the year-earlier period. Revenue declined to $8.15 billion from $8.17 billion in the year-earlier period.