By Anora Mahmudova and Wallace Witkowski, MarketWatch

Whirlpool tanks after earnings miss Wall Street's estimates

U.S. stocks traded near their lows of the session Tuesday as investors grappled with a wave of lackluster corporate earnings and waning confidence, against a backdrop of the U.S. presidential election and growing expectation of a rate increase by the Federal Reserve.

The confidence of Americans (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-confidence-droops-ahead-of-presidential-election-2016-10-25)in the U.S. economy fell in October to a three-month low just ahead of the race for the White House between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and GOP nominee Donald Trump, with more consumers saying jobs are harder to find.

The main benchmarks were giving up most of the previous session's gains. The S&P 500 declined by 3 points, or 0.4%, to 2,143. Nine of the 11 main sectors were trading lower. Consumer discretionary and materials led the decliners, down 1.1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 59 points, or 0.3%, to 18,164, with shares of 3M Co.(MMM) leading decliners. The company reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations but the St. Paul, Minn.-based company posted sales that were flat relative to the prior year and reduced the top end of its yearly earnings forecas (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3m-cuts-earnings-outlook-amid-flat-sales-2016-10-25-84852553)t. Shares fell 3.1%.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was off by 27 points, or 0.5%, at 5,283.

Market participants have been wrestling with third-quarter earnings that have outperformed lowered expectations, but a number of companies have cut their annual outlooks, which has raised questions about future earnings.

"It is encouraging to see year-over-year growth in earnings this season. But we continue to see churning by the market as investors have a mindful eye toward the Federal Reserve and elections," said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank's Private Client Reserve.

Investors are eager to find out the results from two of the tech giants this week, with Apple reporting after the closing bell on Tuesday.

Analysts expect to see Apple Inc.(AAPL) report earnings at the high-end of its fourth-quarter forecast (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-sales-likely-to-fall-again-despite-samsung-woes-2016-10-24), aided by the iPhone 7 launch and new customers switching from Android after Samsung Electronics' exploding Note 7 troubles. However, analysts are also projecting the third-straight quarterly decline in iPhone unit sales.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)(GOOGL), Google's parent company, is set to report Thursday.

Economic data:Consumer confidence dropped to 98.6 this month from 103.5 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-confidence-droops-ahead-of-presidential-election-2016-10-25) in September, a number that was cut, the privately run Conference Board said Tuesday. The decline was well below Wall Street expectations.

Separately, U.S. home prices rose in August, and were up 5.1% year-over-year as tight inventories continued to drive prices higher, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City index.

Corporates: Shares in Whirlpool(WHR) dropped more than 10% after the appliance maker reported third-quarter profit and sales that missed expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whirlpool-slumps-43-premarket-after-profit-miss-2016-10-25), and issued a downbeat outlook.

Merck & Co. shares (MRK) rose 1.5% after the drugmaker's third-quarter earnings and sales came in above expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/merck-shares-climb-3-after-third-quarter-earnings-beat-2016-10-25).

Chemicals maker DuPont(DD) shares fell 1.1% despite the company raising its yearly profit forecast and better-than-expected quarterly earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dupont-lifts-yearly-profit-view-as-sales-increase-2016-10-25). The company is working on its merger with Dow Chemical Co. (DOW).

Procter & Gamble Co.(PG) gained 4% after the consumer goods company reported earnings ahead of forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/procter-gamble-shares-rise-after-earnings-beat-2016-10-25).

General Motors Co. (GM) shares fell 4.6% even as auto giant's quarterly profit doubled (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/general-motors-earnings-more-than-double-2016-10-25-74853840). GM also posted higher revenue on strong U.S. truck sales. But it signaled continued weakness in Europe because of the fallout from the U.K.'s pending exit from the European Union, or Brexit.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) rallied 4.1% despite reporting profit and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/freeport-mcmoran-misses-earnings-and-revenue-expectations-2016-10-25) that missed analysts' expectations on Tuesday.

Under Armour Inc.'s(UA) shares plunged 14% after the company issued a profit warning (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/under-armours-stock-rocked-after-downbeat-outlook-2016-10-25). The decline came even as the athletic gear maker reported a 28% rise in third-quarter profit and an expansion of its market share, but those results were overshadowed by its warning.

Other markets: Oil futures dropped more than 1% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-drift-south-as-upcoming-opec-meeting-starts-to-look-like-a-bust-2016-10-25) while gold futures rose 0.8%. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index tilted lower after an earlier gain (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-holds-strength-in-wake-of-upbeat-session-for-us-stocks-2016-10-25).

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-gain-as-german-business-mood-rises-to-25-year-high-2016-10-25) pared earlier gains and were mostly lower and Asian shares (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mixed-after-report-of-korean-economic-slowdown-2016-10-24) were mixed following data that pointed to a slowdown for South Korea's economy.

--Carla Mozee in London contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 25, 2016 12:43 ET (16:43 GMT)