Wall Street set to open lower after Alcoa's results

[October 11, 2016]  By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower on Tuesday after Alcoa kicked off the third-quarter earnings season on a disappointing note.

Alcoa's <AA.N> shares fell 4.2 percent in premarket trading after the aluminum producer reported revenue and profit that fell short of market expectations.

Overall earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to fall by 0.7 percent in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Oil prices fell 0.9 percent, a day after hitting a one-year high, as investors questioned whether a deal to cut output would be enough to rebalance the market by next year. [O/R]

"Right now the market is on a fence and earnings will begin to resolve its recent choppiness and uncertainty, pushing investors one way or another," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Wall Street closed higher on Monday as energy shares benefited from a surge in oil prices and as Apple jumped due to rival Samsung Electronics' worsening smartphone recall crisis.

The iPhone maker's <AAPL.O> stock was up 1.96 percent in premarket trading on Tuesday and was the top percentage gainer among S&P 500 companies.

The markets are likely to be volatile as the earnings season will turn the spotlight on valuations, while a tight race for the White House and a potential U.S. interest rate increase by the year-end will add to the jitters.

The dollar <.DXY> rose 0.53 percent, marking the second straight day of gains as investors priced in an 80 percent chance of a rate hike in December, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Dow e-minis  were down 43 points, or 0.24 percent, with 21,784 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were down 6.5 points, or 0.3 percent, with 145,396 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 6.5 points, or 0.13 percent, on volume of 21,645 contracts.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 6, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari is scheduled to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT).

No major economic data is expected on Tuesday.

Shares of Illumina plunged nearly 26 percent to $137.10 after the diagnostic test maker cut third-quarter revenue forecast for the second time in a row.

St. Jude dropped 3 percent in heavy premarket trading after the company warned that some of its implanted heart devices are at risk of premature battery depletion, a condition it said had been linked to two patient deaths.

Rent-A-Center dropped 27.2 percent after the company estimated third-quarter earnings to fall below analysts' expectations.

JinkoSolar <JKS.N> rose 4.2 percent after the solar cell maker entered into an agreement for the sale of its Jinko Power downstream business in China.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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