U.S. futures lower, eyes on earnings reports; Dow Jones down 0.16%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday, as concerns over upcoming earnings reports and global economic growth weighed on market sentiment.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.16% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.06% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.10% decline.

Market sentiment remained under pressure after the International Monetary Fund cut global economic growth forecasts for 2012 and 2013 on Tuesday, justifying the recent round of central bank stimulus which aimed to support to the world's fragile economies.

Earlier in the day, the IMF said the crisis in the euro zone remains the greatest threat to the global economy and warned that policymakers need to urgently strengthen fiscal and financial ties within the euro area.

Markets were also jittery amid uncertainty over when Spain will request a sovereign bailout and when Greece will agree with its international lenders on terms for the next tranche of funds.

Alcoa was expected to be in focus, after the aluminum giant kicked off earnings season late on Tuesday, posting a quarterly profit before exceptional items that beat analyst expectations, but warning about a "slight slowdown" in some regions and end markets.

The news sent shares tumbling 0.99% in after-hour trade.

Oil and gas major Chevron was also likely to be in the spotlight, as shares plunged 1.26% pre-market after the company said that third-quarter profits would be "substantially lower" than the previous quarter's, as a hurricane and maintenance curbed its oil and gas output and a fire hit its refining arm.

In the retail sector, Costco Wholesale added 0.27% in early trading, after posting a 27% jump in fourth quarter profit, as sales continued to rise and it got a lift from higher membership fees.

Also on the upside, Yum Brands surged 4.47% pre-market, after raising its full-year outlook late on Tuesday, with sales in China holding up despite a cooling of economic growth in that market, the company's largest.

Elsewhere, FedEx was expected to be active after saying on Tuesday it plans to sharply cut costs at its underperforming express air freight and services divisions, seeking to improve profits at those operations by USD1.7 billion over the next four years.

Separately, the Financial Times reported earlier that the European Union said it would object to UPS's EUR5.2 billion bid for Dutch rival TNT.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.41%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.25%, Germany's DAX slid 0.29%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.43%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.08%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged 1.98%.

Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to publish its Beige Book.