Stock market today: Wall Street opens lower as markets become more cautious

Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street as more caution creeps into financial markets worldwide. 

The S&P 500 was down 0.7% Tuesday, following up on losses for stocks across Europe and much of Asia. 

The Dow was off 220 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.8%. Bank stocks dropped after Moody’s cut the credit ratings for several smaller and midsized ones amid a long list of concerns about their financial strength. 

Stocks sank 1.8% in Hong Kong after a report showed exports for China’s troubled economy shrank by the most since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Wall Street futures slid Tuesday after new data showed sharp declines in Chinese exports and Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of a number of smaller U.S. lenders.

Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.6% before the opening bell.

Data on Tuesday showed that China’s exports plunged by 14.5% in July compared with a year earlier, adding to pressure on the ruling Communist Party to reverse an economic slump. 

Chinese leaders are trying to shore up business and consumer activity after a rebound fizzled out earlier than expected following the end of virus controls in December.Bank stocks are down broadly. 

Moody’s downgraded the credit ratings 10 mid-size banks, which have been under heavy scrutiny since the failure of three of their peers earlier this year. Most mid-size banks fell between 2% and 3% before the bell.

Corporate earnings continue to roll out and UPS on Tuesday lowered its revenue expectations for the year, citing volume impact from labor talks and the costs associated with the tentative deal reached with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters last month. 

Shares slid about 5% in premarket trading Tuesday.But package volumes have been in decline and shares of both UPS and rival FedEx are down between 2% and 3% this month.

U.S. corporate profits have mostly beat forecasts for the April-June period. 

Nearly four out of five companies in the S&P 500 have topped expectations so far, according to FactSet. 

But they’re still on track to report their sharpest drop in profit since summer 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the global economy.Disney will report quarterly earnings Wednesday. 

Later this week, the U.S. government releases data on consumer and wholesale inflation, adding to the mix of market-moving news that investors will be focused on this week. 

The inflation reports, coming Thursday and Friday, could influence Federal Reserve plans for another interest rate hike.Investors hope this week's inflation reports will help to persuade the Fed that upward pressure on prices is under control and no more rate hikes are needed. 

Forecasters expect Thursday’s data to show consumer prices rose by 3.3% in July over a year ago, an acceleration from June’s 3%.Inflation has gradually declined since soaring to a two-decade high above 9% last year.

Some forecasters warn traders are assuming too early that rate hikes are finished and the Fed can achieve a “soft landing” of extinguishing inflation without tipping the world’s biggest economy into a recession.

At midday in Europe, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.6%, the CAC 40 in Paris gave up 1% and the DAX in Frankfurt shed 1.3%.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% to 3,260.61 after data showed that economic growth sank to 0.8% in the three months ending in June compared with the previous quarter, down from the January-March period’s 2.2%.  That is the equivalent of 3.2% annual growth, which would be among China’s weakest in three decades. 

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 1.8% to 19,184.17. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.4% to 32,277.29 after official data showed labor cash earnings rose 2.3% in June.

The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.3% to 2,573.98, and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 gained less than 0.1% to 7,311.10.

India's Sensex opened up 0.1% at 65,872.98.

New Zealand, Bangkok, and Jakarta retreated while Singapore rose.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.28 to $80.66 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. 

The contract lost 88 cents on Monday to $81.94. U.S. crude has risen for the past six weeks, but prices have fallen now on consecutive days and could dip back below $80 per barrel Tuesday. 

Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, declined $1.37 to $83.97 per barrel in London.It lost 90 cents the previous session to $85.34.

The dollar rose to 142.94 yen from Monday's 142.44 yen. 

The euro declined to $1.0954 from $1.1007.On Monday, the Dow rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.6%. 

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rallied 0.9%, recovering one-third of last week's loss.