By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures declined Tuesday, pulling back after two
sessions of gains, as oil prices slipped and the dollar
strengthened.
S&P 500 futures lost 10 points, or 0.5%, to 2066. E-mini Dow
futures fell 72 points, or 0.4%, to 17785, and e-mini Nasdaq-100
futures declined 18 points, or 0.4%, to 4354.
The Dow has eked out a gain of 0.9% in the first quarter,
through Monday's close, on track for its fourth straight quarterly
gain. The S&P and Nasdaq have rallied for nine consecutive
quarters, up 1.3% and 4.5% this period, respectively.
U.S. oil prices fell for the third session in a row. Crude-oil
futures dropped 2.3% to $47.55 an ounce. Shares of Chevron Corp.
fell 0.9% in premarket trade, and those of Exxon Mobil Corp. lost
0.8%.
The euro fell to $1.0737 from $1.0834 on Monday.
The slump in oil prices since last summer and the sharp rise in
the dollar have dimmed the outlook for first-quarter profits in the
energy sector and at multinational companies. First-quarter
earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to fall 4.7%
from a year ago, according to FactSet. At the same time, economic
reports continue to show that consumers aren't spending the extra
money they have from lower oil prices, which could help boost sales
and corporate profits.
"Cautiousness will probably reign ahead of the first-quarter
earnings season and certainly it's not going to be a good one
because of the dollar impact," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at broker-dealer Rockwell Global Capital.
Stocks rose sharply on Monday as investors cheered deals in the
health-care sector. The Dow gained 1.5% to 17976.31, and the
S&P added 1.2% to 2086.24.
Stocks also fell in Europe on Tuesday. Germany's DAX lost 0.8%
and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.7%.
Investors will receive several updates on the economy this week,
culminating in Friday's release of the March employment report. On
Tuesday, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home-Price Index is
expected to rise 4.8% in January, according to economists surveyed
by The Wall Street Journal. Later in the morning, investors will
receive readings on manufacturing and consumer confidence.
In other markets, gold futures inched down 0.1% to $1183.80 an
ounce. Treasury prices rose slightly, pushing the 10-year yield
down to 1.949% from 1.959% on Monday.
Among individual stocks, International Business Machines Corp.
plans to invest $3 billion in a new business aimed at helping
customers use data from sensor-equipped devices and smartphones.
Shares slipped 0.3% in premarket trade.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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