U.S. stocks fall on growth fears, eyes on Alcoa; Dow Jones down 0.12%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, as global growth concerns continued to weigh on sentiment, while investors eyed quarterly earnings reports to be published this week, beginning with Alcoa's results due after the closing bell on Tuesday.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.12%, the S&P 500 index edged down 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 0.58%.

Market sentiment weakened after the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecasts and warned of even slower expansion unless officials in the U.S. and Europe address threats to their economies.

The IMF said that the world economy will grow 3.3% this year, the slowest since the 2009 recession, and 3.6% next year, compared with July predictions of 3.5% in 2012 and 3.9% in 2013.

Investors also remained cautious amid uncertainty over how soon Spain may formally request a bailout lingered after euro zone finance ministers said Monday that Madrid did not need external financial aid yet.

In the tech sector, Intel plunged 2.03% after the stock was cut to "underperform" from "market perform" at Bernstein, which said the downgrade was based on long-term trends rather than expectations for the coming quarter.

Apple added to losses, with shares dropping 0.34%, after Nomura initiated the iPhone maker with a "neutral" rating and a price target of USD710. Separately, Credit Suisse said it sees a strong second half for Apple and reiterated its "outperform" rating.

Meanwhile, IBM rose 0.30% after AT&T said it will combine resources with the computer tech giant to seek a bigger slice of the USD14 billion market for cloud-computing services.

Also on the upside, Marathon Petroleum jumped 1.06% amid reports it is preparing to buy BP's Texas City refinery, the site of a deadly industrial accident, in a USD2.5 billion deal that will make it the number 4 U.S. refiner with a bigger potential slice of lucrative exports.

Elsewhere, U.S. lenders tracked their European counterparts higher, as shares in Goldman Sachs added 0.28% and JP Morgan rose 0.19%, while Citigroup and Bank of America advanced 0.29% and 0.54%.

Other stocks in focus included Edwards Lifesciences, whose shares dove 17.88% after cutting its revenue forecast for the third quarter, as sales of the medical device maker's unique heart valve that was expected to drive results fell short of estimates.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to lower. The EURO STOXX 50 edged down 0.16%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.15%, Germany's DAX fell 0.25%, while Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.31%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.54%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged 1.06%.

Also Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to travel to Athens for talks with Greek political leaders. Meanwhile, finance ministers from the European Union were to hold a day of talks in Brussels.