Stocks set to slip on overseas concerns

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were set to decline at the start of trading Tuesday, despite a host of upbeat corporate profit reports, as investors saw concerns in news from overseas.

Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were lower.

Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.

Stocks soared Monday as investors grew more upbeat about the economic outlook and fears about Greece's debt situation eased. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all gained at least 1%.

Peter Boockvar, chief market strategist with Miller Taback & Co., said investors are concerned about global economic growth following a decline in Chinese manufacturing and moves by that country's government to reign in bank lending.

In addition, he said ongoing worries about the debt crisis in Europe have also curbed investors' appetite for risk.

Those worries overshadowed a host of upbeat earnings reports from major U.S. companies, which continued what has been a much better-than-expected first quarter for corporate America.

"The market is excited about earnings, but that was the first quarter and the market is forward looking," said Boockvar. "If Europe and China are slowing down, who cares about the first quarter?"

Economy: A reading on factory orders was due from the government at 10 a.m. ET.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect orders fell 0.2% in March after a 0.6% rise the month before.

President Obama is due to speak to the Business Council meeting in Washington about job creation and economic growth.

Earnings: Several major U.S. companies reported earnings before the opening bell, including Dow components Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) and Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500).

Excluding certain charges, Merck said it earned 83 cents per share in the first quarter on sales of $11.4 billion. That was up from 63 cents a share in profit and $5.4 billion in sales a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast earnings of 75 cents per share on sales of $11.2 billion.

Pfizer reported first-quarter earnings of 60 cents per share, up 11% from 54 cents a year earlier. Sales rose 54% to $16.8 billion in the quarter. Analysts were expecting earnings of 53 cents per share and revenue of $16.6 billion.

Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM, Fortune 500) posted fiscal third-quarter net income of $421 million, or 65 cents per share, compared with $3 million, or breakeven, a year earlier. But earnings were below Wall Street expectations of 72 cents per share.

CVS Caremark (CVS, Fortune 500) said it earned $771 million, or 55 cents per share, in the first quarter. That was up from $738 million, or 50 cents per share, in the prior year. Excluding certain charges, the drug store chain said it earned 60 cents per share, versus a 58 cent per share profit.

Companies: Interactive Data (IDC) agreed Tuesday to a $3.4 billion buyout deal with investment funds managed by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus.

World markets: Stocks in Europe retreated. The CAC 40 in France fell 1.8%. Britain's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX both fell more than 1%.

In Asia, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite both finished in negative territory. The market in Japan was closed.

Other markets: The dollar continued to strengthen against major currencies, including the euro, pound and yen.

The price of oil was down $1.56 to $84.63 a barrel. Gold prices rose $3.40 to $1,186.50 an ounce.

Bond prices rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note at 3.65%.