By Corrie Driebusch 

U.S. stocks crept lower Tuesday, as investors paused ahead of first-quarter corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 5.43 points, or 0.03%, to 17875.42. The S&P 500 shed 4.29 points, or 0.2%, to 2076.33 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 7.08 points, or 0.1%, to 4910.23.

The Dow industrials index had been up by as much as 102 points earlier in the day, but lost its gains in late-afternoon trading.

Traders said the market is in a holding pattern ahead of quarterly results, and that U.S. stocks are unlikely to make any dramatic moves until investors have a better sense of how companies performed in the first three months of the year. First-quarter earnings are widely expected to decline due both to a stronger dollar and its effect on profits at large multinational companies, and weaker commodity prices and their impact on energy companies. In all, analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 companies to fall 4.9% from a year earlier, according to FactSet.

"The next market catalyst is going to be how earnings do against expectations," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, which manages about $97 billion.

In the past, a big earnings revision downward, such as the one the market has seen in recent months, has been a harbinger of a recession, said Mr. McMillan. However, he added that he doesn't believe that is the case this time, because the revision has been based on the price of oil and the strength of the dollar rather than on slowing domestic demand or economic weakness.

"Still, we have an enormous earnings headwind ahead of us, and the market is wrestling with this," he said.

Earnings season unofficially begins this week, when Alcoa Inc. reports results after the stock market closes Wednesday.

Ahead of this unofficial kickoff to first-quarter results, stock-trading volumes have been muted, with fewer shares changing hands than typical. Tuesday was no exception, with only 5.7 billion shares traded, the fewest since Jan. 2.

"Everyone's a little confused, a little cautious," said Seth Setrakian, co-head of global equities at First New York Securities. "They'd rather miss the next leg up than be caught overexposed. There's a lot of cash on the sidelines."

On Monday, U.S. stocks rose on lower-than-average trading volumes as investors shrugged off the disappointing employment report for March. Friday's weak employment report, which showed the economy added 126,000 jobs last month, has heightened the emphasis on other labor and wage data, said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial.

"There is a premium on data with regard to employment, wages, and anything that suggests that Friday's number was an aberration," she said.

That includes Tuesday's job openings and labor turnover survey, which is closely watched by the Federal Reserve. According to the Labor Department survey, the number of job openings in the U.S. climbed to the highest level in 14 years, surpassing five million for the first time since January 2001. But the number of Americans actually hired to fill jobs declined, as did the number of people who voluntarily quit.

Action in the stock market has been choppy this year as investors prepare for an eventual increase in interest rates. Comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen have underscored that even when the Fed begins to move on rates, it will do so gradually. The expected slow pace of rate increases will make stocks appear a more attractive investment than bonds for a while longer, investors say. The Dow has added 0.3% this year and is up 10% over the last 12 months, through Monday's close.

On Tuesday, European stocks advanced in their first day of trade after the Easter holiday weekend. France's CAC 40 gained 1.5% and Germany's DAX rose 1.3%. Investors were cheered by upbeat data on private-sector activity, which expanded at the fastest pace in 11 months, even after slight downward revisions to initial estimates.

In commodity markets, crude-oil futures gained 3.5% to $53.98 a barrel, its highest settlement value since Dec. 30. Gold futures lost 0.7% to $1210.60 an ounce.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.893% from 1.913% on Monday. Yields rise as prices fall.

In corporate news, FedEx Corp. said it would buy Dutch parcel-delivery firm TNT Express NV for about EUR4.4 billion ($4.8 billion) to expand in Europe. FedEx shares rose 2.7%.

Informatica Corp. agreed to be taken private by Permira Advisers LLC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a deal valued at $5.3 billion, the largest U.S. leveraged buyout so far this year. Shares rose 4.3%.

Energy logistics company Tesoro Logistics LP, a master limited partnership created by refinery operator Tesoro Corp., has agreed to buy the remaining stake of QEP Midstream Partners LP in an exchange of common units. Shares of QEP Midstream jumped 6.2%.

Saumya Vaishampayan contributed to this article.

Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com

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