US stock futures retreated on Tuesday as economic worries continued to rattle investors.
At 8:21 am ET, the S&P 500 futures fell 8.70 points to 1095. The Dow Jones Industrial average futures dropped 70 points to 10321. The Nasdaq Composite futures slipped 5.75 points to 1770.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) reaffirmed its full-year earnings outlook on Tuesday. The company said that it still anticipates 2009 earnings to be in the range of $4.50 to $4.55 a share, implying fourth-quarter earnings in the range of $1.12 to $1.17.
Fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD: 61.93, 0.34) said Tuesday that its same-store sales, a key measure of performance, climbed 0.7% in November.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON: 83.44, 0), the world's largest seed company, will reaffirm its full-year 2010 ongoing earnings forecast of $3.10 to $3.30 a share on Tuesday. However, it will also say that it expects an ongoing loss in the first quarter of 5 cents a share or less.
Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE: BF-A) said Tuesday that its fiscal second-quarter earnings increased to $147.3 million, or 99 cents a share, from $143.2 million, or 94 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell 4% to $892.9 million from $934.7 million.
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO: 153.36, 1.28) said Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter earnings jumped 9% to $143.3 million, or $2.82 a share, from $131.4 million, or $2.23 a share, in the prior-year period. Quarterly revenue increased to $1.59 billion from $1.48 billion.
H&R Block Inc., (NYSE: HRB: 20.48, 0.26) , reported that its fiscal second-quarter loss narrowed to $128.6 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with $135.9 million, or 41 cents, in the comparable quarter last year.
Late on Monday, FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX: 89.64, 2.12) upped its second-quarter earnings guidance citing increased demand for its international shipping services as well as the company's cost-cutting initiatives. FedEx now expects to earn $1.10 a share from its prior outlook in the range of 65 cents to 95 cents a share. The Memphis, Tenn.-based company earned $1.58 a share in the same quarter a year ago.
On the economic front, wholesale inventories data is due for release later in the day.
US stocks finished mixed after a choppy session on Monday after Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke cautioned that the economy remained fragile and reiterated that interest rates will remain at low levels.
European stocks retreated in afternoon trade. At 13:20 pm London time, the UK FTSE lost 77.27 points or 1.46% to 5,233.39. The German DAX and French decreased 1.84% and 1.64% respectively.
Asian stocks finished down. The Nikkei 225 fell 27.13 points or 0.27% to 10,167.6. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong slumped 264.44 points or 1.18% to 22,060.52.
NYMEX crude oil for January delivery declined as much as 40 cents or 0.5% to $73.53 a barrel in electronic trading.
