ARNC Arconic Corporation

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Alcoa slides almost 5% premarket after weak earnings

U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday, as rising oil prices offset any lingering disappointment from Alcoa Inc.'s lackluster start to earnings season.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33 points, or 0.2% to 17,506, but swung between gains and losses.

Futures for the S&P 500 index added 5.8 points, or 0.3%, to 2,040.50, while those for the Nasdaq-100 index climbed 12.25 points, or 0.3%, to 4,464.25.

All three benchmarks fell on Monday, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-rise-as-dollar-steadies-investors-wait-for-alcoa-2016-04-11) erasing early gains in afternoon trade as investors braced for the start of what's expected to be a difficult earnings season. The declines came ahead of the closely watched first-quarter earnings report from Alcoa(AA), considered the unofficial start of the U.S. earnings season, released after the market close.

The aluminum giant posted a 92% drop (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alcoa-hurt-by-weak-aluminum-prices-2016-04-11-174853616) in profit and lowered its 2016 outlook for the aerospace market. Its shares were down 4.1% in Tuesday's premarket trade.

"U.S. earnings season is under way, and first indications are that this could live up to its billing as one of the worst in years," said Lee Wild, an editor at stockbroker Interactive Investor, in a note.

"However, with the bar set so low, there could be some surprises," he said.

What to watch: S&P 500 earnings for the first quarter are forecast to slide 8.3% year-over-year, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a report. That would mark a third quarterly decline in a row, it said.

"Such a steep decline in growth hasn't been recorded since Q2 2009," the report said.

Only three of the 10 S&P sectors are projected to see a rise in earnings, with the consumer discretionary, telecommunications and health care sectors leading for the fourth quarter in a row, S&P said.

Read:Here's why banks are the black sheep of this earnings season (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-banks-are-the-black-sheep-of-this-earnings-season-2016-04-11)

The earnings season continues at full speed on Tuesday, with wholesale distributor Fastenal Co. (FAST) and retailer Perry Ellis International Inc. (PERY) reporting ahead of the open. After the market closes on Tuesday, transportation company CSX Corp. (CSX) is slated to post results.

Oil rally: After a wobbly start to the day, oil futures shot higher on Tuesday, on hopes that key oil producers will agree on an output freeze at their meeting this Sunday.

Crude oil rose 0.9% to $40.71 a barrel, while Brent jumped 1.1% to $43.30. This helped push up shares of energy-related companies premarket, with Transocean Ltd. (RIG) rising 2%, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) up 1.6% and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) 0.5% higher.

Data and Fed speakers: The NFIB small-business index slipped to a two-year low in March (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/small-business-sentiment-falls-to-two-year-low-nfib-says-2016-04-12).

The import-price index for March is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, followed by the federal budget for the same month, out at 2 p.m. Eastern.

It's a busy lineup for Federal Reserve speakers. First up is Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who will give a speech on the economic outlook at Netrality Properties in Philadelphia at 9 a.m. Eastern. Harker is not a voting member of the policy-setting committee this year.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams, also a non-voter, will speak in San Francisco at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Finally, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, a non-voter as well, will speak about "economic leadership in an uncertain world" at the University of North Carolina Wilmington at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Movers and shakers: Shares of Marathon Oil Corp.(MRO) could be active in Tuesday's trade. Late Monday, the oil production company said it plans to sell $950 million worth of assets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/marathon-plans-950-million-asset-sale-2016-04-11), and vowed to focus on lower-risk U.S. resources to protect its balance sheet against the oil price slump.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (HTZ) shares may also be active. The stock slumped 11% on Monday after the car rental company cut its 2016 outlook on U.S. car rental revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hertz-cuts-2016-outlook-on-us-car-rental-revenue-2016-04-11-84852736).

Shares of Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) could also move premarket after the networking company late Monday cut its outlook for the first quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/juniper-networks-shares-fall-on-cut-outlook-2016-04-11).

Other markets: Asia markets closed mostly higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-lifted-by-weaker-yen-as-shanghai-stocks-slip-2016-04-12), with Japan's Nikkei 225 index getting a boost from a weaker yen (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-rises-after-japans-finance-minister-fires-a-warning-shot-over-yen-2016-04-12). The dollar traded lower against most other major currencies, sending the ICE dollar index down 0.3%.

Stocks in Europe (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-choppy-as-italian-banks-rise-luxury-shares-pull-back-2016-04-12) traded mostly lower, while metals rose across the board.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 12, 2016 08:03 ET (12:03 GMT)

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