1. Catalonia crunch time: The benchmark stock market in Spain opened 0.5% lower on Tuesday ahead of the highly-anticipated appearance of Catalan President Carles Puigdemont in the regional parliament.
Puigdemont had been expected to formally declare the region's independence from Spain. But there is intense speculation about whether he will go ahead with such a provocative move.
A huge rally against independence in Barcelona at the weekend exposed deep misgivings about his tactics among some sections of Catalan society. Some businesses have protectively moved their legal homes out of the region.
2. IMF outlook: The International Monetary Fund will publish its Global Economic Outlook at 9:00 a.m. ET.
In July, the IMF lowered its U.S. growth forecast to 2.1% for 2017 and 2018. That's well below the 4% growth President Trump promised on the campaign trail, and significantly lower than the 3% rate he has targeted since assuming office.
Investors will be watching whether the IMF updates its forecasts for U.S. and global growth.
3. May on Plan B: British Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament on Monday that her government is preparing for all possible outcomes of divorce talks with the European Union, including one where the U.K. crashes out of the bloc without a trade agreement.
The government published a document that outlines plans to keep trade flowing if no deal materializes.
4. Global market overview: U.S. stock futures were edging higher.
European markets opened mixed, while most Asia market posted gains.
U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.1%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.2%. The Nasdaq's nine-session win streak ended with a loss of 0.2%.
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5. Company news: British defense firm BAE Systems (BAESF) announced Tuesday that it will cut nearly 2,000 jobs in the U.K. as it slows production of its Eurofighter Typhoon fighter. Shares were 0.8% lower in early trade.
Shares in Japan's Kobe Steel (KBSTY) dropped as much as 22% in Tokyo after the company admitted that it had falsified data relating to the quality of some of its aluminum and copper products used in cars and airplanes.
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6. Coming this week:
Tuesday -- IMF World economic outlook
Wednesday -- Delta earnings; BlackRock earnings
Thursday -- JPMorgan earnings; Citigroup earnings
Friday -- Bank of America earnings; Wells Fargo earnings
