#PreMarket Primer: Tuesday February 4: PLUNGE!

You know the markets are in a bad mood when construction spending and manufacturing data can spark a 300-point plunge in the Dow.

The Dow ended down two percent to close at 15,372.80. The S&P fell 2.3 percent to 1,741.89 and the NASDAQ had the worst day falling 2.6 percent to 3,996.96.

U.S. markets are trending higher this morning. The Dow is up about 18 points while the S&P is up about three. The NASDAQ is up 3 points in early trading.

Top Stories

Herbalife HLF expects fourth-quarter EPS of $1.26 to $1.30—well above consensus of $1.17.

The Nikkei drops 4.2 percent to a four-month low after the index slipped into correction territory Monday.

Asian Markets

Action in the U.S. markets caused severe downside action in the Asian markets. The Nikkei closed down more than four percent to close at 14,008.47.

The Shanghai composite closed down nearly one percent at 2,033.08 and the Hang Seng, down nearly three percent to close at 21,397.77 after being closed for the Chinese new year.

European Markets

Europe is down in response to the Wall Street carnage yesterday. The FTSE is down about 0.3 percent and the DAX is down about 0.9 percent. The CAC is up about 0.2 percent.

Commodities

Commodities are mixed as more winter weather affects energy prices. WTI is up about 0.2 percent at $96.61 while Brent is down at $105.68. Natural Gas is up about 2.5 percent to $5.03.

Gold is down about 0.5 percent at $1,253.70 and silver is down 0.4 percent at $19.33. Copper is up 0.3 percent to $3.19

Currencies

The euro lost some ground against the dollar in early trading and the dollar is stronger against the yen. The euro sits at 1.3513 against the dollar—down only slightly and the dollar is at 101.31 against the yen—0.34 percent higher.

The pound is 0.2 percent higher against the U.S. currency at 1.633 and the Aussie dollar is at 0.887 against the dollar—up about 1.4 percent.

Pre-Market Movers

YUM Brands YUMis about four percent this morning after reporting better than expected earnings.

ActavisACT is up three percent in light trading after release positive guidance.

Earnings

Take-Two Interactive TTWO reported third-quarter EPS of $1.70, beating consensus of $1.40. Revenue came in at $767.7 million—higher than the consensus of $701.2 million.

Hologic HOLX reported first-quarter EPS of $-0.02 on revenue of $612.4 million. Analysts expected EPS of $0.31 per share on revenue of $609.65 million.

YUM Brands reported Q4 EPS of $0.86 vs. $0.80 estimate on revenue of $4.18 billion vs. $4.26 billion

Earnings expected after the closing bell include:

Aflac AFL is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings of $1.39 on revenue of $2.88 billion

Gilead Sciences GILD is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings $0.50 on revenue of $2.85 billion.

Economics

Factory Orders will come out at 10:00 am ET and Fed Governor Charles Evans will speak at 12:30 PM ET.