NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks looked set to slump early Tuesday as oil prices, racing towards a new record high, overcrowded a spate of mostly sunny corporate news.

U.S. stock futures were down in early trading, indicating a lower opening for stocks.

Oil prices pushed past the $69 mark in overnight trade after gaining $1.35, or 2 percent, Monday.

U.S. light crude for May delivery rose 58 cents to $69.32 a barrel in early electronic trade, putting oil within reach of its all-time record trading high of $70.85 set Aug. 30 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Fears of military action against major producer Iran and supply disruptions by militants in Nigeria were cited as reasons for crude's most recent run up.

But despite the oil price build, one trader said it's unlikely to sink stocks.

"We've got a stubbornly high price of oil, but we're showing just a mild downside to the market," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. "It's not going to send it into a tail spin."

Hogan said earnings news, and most importantly guidance, is what will interest investors over the next couple of weeks.

Also pressuring stocks Tuesday is a jump in gold prices and high treasury yields, both indicators of inflation.

Gold topped $600 an ounce, hitting a 25-year high, while Treasury prices were rose slightly lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note near the 4.95 percent but still close to the 5 percent level.

In corporate news, GM (Research) said it will sell its stake in Isuzu for $300 million.

Financial manager UBS (Research) said it would buy the private client unit of Piper Jaffray Cos. for $500 million, putting $52 billion in client assets and more than 800 financial advisers under its roof.

And Alcoa (Research), the first Dow component to reports its quarterly financial results, posted first-quarter after the bell Monday that easily beat estimates. The aluminum producer said it earned 69 cents a share on revenue of $7.2 billion.

Major markets in Asia closed mostly lower Tuesday while major European markets also fell in early trading.

The dollar was mixed against the euro and the yen.