NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
With the Dow Jones industrials at a 2-1/2 year high, earnings from four of the average's components, the consumer confidence index and the first day of the Fed's policy-making meeting will get investors' attention when trading begins Tuesday.
At 8:40 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a lower open for the major indexes.
Leading the four Dow components is SBC Communications (SBC: Research, Estimates), the regional phone service provider. The No. 2 local telecom posted net income for the fourth quarter of $905 million, or 27 cents per share, compared with $2.4 billion, or 71 cents, a year ago.
Excluding several one-time items, fourth-quarter profit totaled 34 cents a share, down from 49 cents, a year ago. That was in line with Wall Street expectations.
Drug manufacturer Merck (MRK: Research, Estimates) said it earned $1.4 billion, or 62 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $1.9 billion, or 83 cents, in the year-ago quarter.
The chemical manufacturer DuPont (DD: Research, Estimates) posted net income of $636 million, or 63 cents a share, compared with $350 million, or 35 cents, in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding special items, the company reported earnings of 29 cents a share. On that basis, analysts, on average, had forecast DuPont would earn 25 cents, according to First Call.
And industrial equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (CAT: Research, Estimates) posted a fourth-quarter profit of 97 cents a share, up from 88 cents a year earlier, on sales of $6.47 billion. Wall Street expected the company to earn 94 cents, according to First Call.
After trading begins, the Conference Board issues its January consumer confidence index. It's expected to soar to 98.5 from 91.3 in December, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
Then there's the Federal Reserve. The central bank's policy makers, led by Chairman Alan Greenspan, begin a two-day meeting to determine monetary policy. No change in key interest rates, now at their lowest levels in 45 years, is expected when the policy announcement is made Wednesday afternoon.
But Greenspan did help trigger Monday's big stock-market rally that left the Dow Jones industrial average at its highest level June 2001. The Fed chairman said he believes new jobs will be created to replace the ones lost to low-wage workers in China and other nations.
The Dow posted a 1.3 percent gain Monday. The Nasdaq composite index rallied 1.4 percent. (See chart for details)
Asian-Pacific stocks ended mixed Tuesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei down 0.4 percent. European markets kicked off with gains. (Check the latest on world markets)
Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, McDonald's (MCD: Research, Estimates) rose 2-1/2 percent. The fast-food merchant posted fourth-quarter earnings in line with expectations, and its CEO said he expects higher same-store sales this year.
Treasury prices rose in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 4.12 from 4.13 percent late Monday. The dollar retreated against the euro and yen.
Brent oil futures pulled back 20 cents to $30.25 a barrel in London, where gold was lower.
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