Stock Market Today: Stocks slip with earnings, Biden Israel visit in focus

U.S. equity futures slipped lower Tuesday, while the dollar built gains against its global peers in safe-having trading while Treasury yields nudged higher as investors kept a wary eye on the uneasy calm in Israel's war with Hamas while bracing for a flurry of third quarter earnings prior to the opening bell. 

Stocks found favor with investors on Monday, as the S&P 500 snapped a three-day losing streak to end the session more than 1% higher, helped by a pullback in Treasury yields that powered most-mega cap tech stocks. 

Overnight moves in Asia and Europe, however, saw Treasury yields moving higher, with 2-year notes back above the 4.1% mark and 10-year paper trading at 4.738% as investors look to today's retail sales data for the month of September that some economists suggest could fan renewed inflation concerns.

The U.S. dollar index was also on the move, rising 0.21% to 106.647 as investors looked to safe-haven assets in overnight trading even amid confirmation that President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday as part of his administrations effort to tame Jerusalem's reaction to Hamas' deadly attack in early October. 

"Markets fear a ground offensive by Israel that could ignite a larger and more complicated regional conflict that risks regional supply chains, energy output, economic growth and financial stability," said Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at London-based Capital.com. 

"While the balance of risks appears tilted to such an outcome, the presence of President Biden in the region potentially lowers the odds of such an offensive in the coming days, providing markets with some breathing room, if only for a small window," he added.

That caution looks to characterize markets heading into the opening bell Tuesday, with investors looking to earnings from Goldman Sachs  (GS) - Get Free Report, Bank of America  (BACXL) - Get Free Report, Johnson and Johnson  (JNJ) - Get Free Report and Lockheed Martin  (LMT) - Get Free Report before the start of trading, with United Airlines  (UAL) - Get Free Report expected after the close.

Data from the London Stock Exchange Group suggest collective S&P 500 profits are likely to rise 2.2% from a year earlier to a share-weighted $468.8 billion, paced by the communications services sector (which includes Google parent Alphabet  (GOOGL) - Get Free Report and Facebook owner Meta Platforms  (META) - Get Free Report).

Earnings growth is expected to accelerate into the final months of the year as well, with current forecasts pegging S&P 500 profits to expand by 10.6% from the year-earlier period to $482.5 billion.

Heading into the the start of trading on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 are indicating a 6 point opening bell decline while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are suggesting a 42 point pullback. The tech-focused Nasdaq is called 20 points lower.

In other markets, oil prices bumped higher in early New York trading. with reports that the Biden administration may ease sanctions on the sale of crude from Venezuela offset by the simmering tensions in the middle ease.

Brent crude contracts for December delivery were marked 16 cents higher at $89.92 per barrel while WTI futures for November delivery added 19 cents to trade at $86.85 per barrel.

European stocks were modestly lower in the opening hours of trading in London and Frankfurt, with the Stoxx 600 slipping 0.11% and moving largely in-line with U.S. futures while the FTSE 100 gained 0.45% on the back of firmer oil and energy stocks.

Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei caught the tail end of Wall Street's Monday rally to rise 1.2% on the session, while the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan index slipped 0.09% into the close of trading. 

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