Tuesday's Market Recap - Earnings Definitely Took Center Stage Today

What's The Premarket Telling Us?

US index futures are down big in the premarket, pointing to a decisively, lower open. Weak corporate earnings will dominate today's trading session. An hour before the bell, Dow futures are down 275 points, Nasdaq futures down 65 points, and the S&P is down 23 points.

After the close yesterday, and before the bell this morning, many blue chip corporations; Microsoft, Caterpillar, 3M, P&G and Pfizer, all reported disappointing earnings, blamed on strong US dollar, and a rapid decline in oil prices. Signalling that the strong dollar is beginning to negatively affect the earnings, of US multinational corporations.

WTI and Crude oil traded up in early tradeing.

What About The Asian And European Markets?

Asian markets ended mixed. Japan was up 299.78 (1.72%), Shanghai down 0.89%, Hong Kong down 0.41%.

European indexed are all trading down early, with the German Dax, down 1.72%.

Market Direction At The Open

Markets opened decidedly negative. Dow sank 285 points, Nasdaq down 78 points, and the S&P down 25 points. The Dow traded down, over 380 points. The idexes traded off their lows, in the late morning, into early afternoon, due to the strong consumer confidence number. The Dow down only, around 190 points, at that point. By late afternoon, however, markets began to lose steam, trading back towards the lows of the day.

Keys To Today's Market

• Weaker than expected earning, due to strong US Dollar vs other major currencies.

• Durable goods fell 0.6%, vs the 0.5% anticipated.

• Strong Consumer Confidence Index number, 102.9 vs 93.10 estimated.

• December New Home Sales were up an encouraging 11.60%.

Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio

At the close, the Dow lost 291.49 or 1.65%, the Nasdaq sank 90.27 points or 1.89%, and the S&P lost 27.54 points or 1.34%. A total of $3.33 billion dollars traded in today's session. Decliners exceeded Advancers by 1.28:1.