A string of earnings awaited from U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures dropped Tuesday, as worries over hikes in Chinese interest rates and ongoing speculation as to whether Ireland will yield to pressure to accept a bailout strained investors’ nerves.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ10 11,103, -70.00, -0.63%) slipped 67 points to 11,106 and S&P 500 futures (SPZ10 1,188, -7.50, -0.63%) fell 6.90 points to 1,188.90.
Home Depot Inc. (HD 31.39, -0.05, -0.16%) earned 51 cents a share in the third quarter.
Also in the sector, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF 45.33, -0.59, -1.28%) and TJX Companies Inc. (TJX 45.70, -0.09, -0.20%) are scheduled to report quarterly results.
Technology giant Apple Inc. (AAPL 307.04, -1.00, -0.32%) will also be in the spotlight after the Wall Street Journal reported that the firm will soon be selling songs from the Beatles catalog through the iTunes Store. On its website, Apple told clients that iTunes will make an exciting announcement “that you’ll never forget.”
The economic calendar is also busy on Tuesday.
Data on producer prices for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, to be followed by a report on October industrial production at 9:15 a.m. Eastern. The NAHB housing market index is due at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Spotlight on Ireland
European equity markets also posted losses, as Ireland continued to resist pressure to accept a bailout ahead of a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers in Brussels. Read more on Ireland’s debt crisis
“This is no time for pride or protection of sovereignty,” said David Buik, strategist at BGC Partners, in a note on Ireland. “Take the money offered by the EU [European Union] and the ECB [European Central Bank] provided the repayment of the debt can be rescheduled over a long period of time.”
While the Irish government doesn’t need to tap the bond markets until next year, the main problem is the poor health of the Irish banks, according to Buik.
“Failure to acquiesce will put huge pressure on Portugal and who knows Spain and Italy could well be dragged into the equation by the end of the year,” he said.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:STOXX600 269.18, -3.18, -1.17%) dropped 1.1% in intraday trading.
In the currency markets, the dollar was little changed against its major rivals. The euro edged up 0.3% to $1.3605.
Commodity prices came under selling pressure.
Gold futures dropped $6.90 to $1,361.60 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.
