US Stock Futures Down; Alcoa Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are slightly lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6 points to 13,495.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 0.80 points to 1,449.00. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 7.25 points to 2,770.25. US stocks closed lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.19% to 13,583.65, the S&P 500 index declining 0.35% to 1,455.88 and the Nasdaq 100 index falling 0.76% to 3,112.35. Alcoa AA is projected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.01 per share on revenue of $5.57 billion. Yum! Brands YUM is projected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.97 per share on revenue of $3.66 billion. Mistras Group MG is estimated to post its Q1 earnings at $0.14 per share on revenue of $111.27 million. Edwards Lifesciences EW issued a weak Q3 revenue view. Principal Financial Group PFG announced its plans to acquire Chile's AFP Cuprum SA for $1.51 billion. AngioDynamics ANGO posted a loss of $721 million, or $0.02 per share in its fiscal first quarter. The company also announced its plans to buy Vortex Medical for $15 million. The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for 2012 and 2013. European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.27%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.32%, French CAC 40 Index rose 0.03% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.60%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.06%, China's Shanghai Composite surging 1.97% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.55%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.54% and India's Sensex gained 0.38%. Japan's current-account surplus rose 4.2% y/y in August. Gold for December delivery declined $3.40 to trade at $1,772.40 an ounce, while oil for November delivery gained $0.35 to $89.68 a barrel. The ICE dollar index (DXY) rose 0.17% to trade at 79.73, up from 79.595 in late North American trading on Monday.