9:45AM U.S. markets opened lower amid profit-taking.
Wall Street opened in the negative on profit-taking ahead of the Fed Reserve''s meeting on interest rates. However, Dow member Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: chart) helped limit losses, rising 2% after the computer maker raised its Q2 earnings and revenue outlook. At the same time, telecom stocks were dragged to the downside by Motorola (MOT: chart) shares which fell 1.8% after the company said its shareholders didn''t elect billionaire shareholder Icahn to its board.

On the earnings news front, Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG: chart) posted a wider Q2 loss, hurt by restructuring costs and a decline in revenue. Warner Music lost $27 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with a loss of $7 million, or 5 cents per share a year ago, missing expectations of 9 cents loss. Duke Energy Corp. (DUK: chart) said its Q1 profit fell to 28 cents per share, down from 37 cents per share last year, coming short of estimates of 31 cents a share. The quarterly decline came after the power company spun off its natural gas business at the beginning of the year.

Pharmacy services provider CVS/Caremark Corp. (CVS: chart) announced Q1 earnings increase of 24% on strong revenue growth. Net income grew to 43 cents per share, from 39 cents per share a year ago, missing expectations of 45 cents a share. Industrial manufacturing conglomerate Tyco International (TYC: chart) posted Q2 earnings drop of 7% as higher costs offset revenue growth. Net income declined to 41 cents per share, from 43 cents per share a year ago, below analyst estimates of 47 cents a share.

In deal news, AK Steel (AKS: chart) climbed 15% amid reports that Arcelor Mittal is in talks to buy the U.S. steel producer in a $4.5 billion, or $40 a share, deal. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 71.03, or 0.53%, to 13,241.94. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 8.01, or 0.53%, at 1,501.47, and the Nasdaq composite index shed 15.69, or 0.61%, to 2,555.26.


9:30AM London equities trade lower Tuesday on weak mining sector.

The U.K. market was lower in early deals on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 shed 36.3 points to 6,567.4 in late morning trade.

Advancers

Reuters gained as it outlined details of its merger with Canadian peer Thomson to create the biggest global news and financial information provider. The 8.8 billion cash-and-stock offer would value each Reuters share at 697 pence. Having jumped 25% on Friday, Reuters rose a further 4.3%.

The news boosted other publishers on expectations of further consolidation. Reed Elsevier rose 2.7% and Pearson gained 0.65. Music group EMI gained 3.9% on sustained hopes of a takeover after the company said on Friday it had receive a number of preliminary bid approaches.

Arken POP, part of Media Square, has secured a contract with CBS Outdoor to design and manufacture advertising display units for use across the London Underground network. The multi-million pound contract is the largest ever secured by Arken and lifted Media Square, up 8.9%.

Decliners

BHP Billiton, down 1.9%, Anglo American, off 1.6% and Xstrata, also 1.6% lower, headed south as metal prices sank from recent highs. Oil large-caps Royal Dutch Shell and BP also dipped 1.3% and 1.7%, respectively, as oil prices continued to trade below $62 a barrel ahead of US crude inventories report, released tomorrow.

BAE Systems fell 2% after the defence group announced plans to raised 750 million pounds to finance the 2.3 billion pounds acquisition of Armor Holdings of the US.

Insurer Standard Life reported a better than expected 40% rise in first quarter sales Tuesday, with growth being driven by strong UK sales of life and pensions business in the UK. The shares of the company 0.2%.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures traded lower on interest rate concerns.
U.S. stock futures indicated a lower opening Tuesday, hurt by cautiousness ahead of the Fed Reserve''s interest rate policy decision on Wednesday. On the economic news front today, March wholesale inventories figures are due out after the open. Another drag on the pre-market sentiment was Motorola (MOT: chart) which lost 2.1% after it said its shareholders re-elected the company''s board but didn''t elect Icahn who failed to receive support from major investment funds.

Among other pre-market highlights, AK Steel (AKS: chart) soared 19% in the pre-open amid reports that Arcelor Mittal is in talks to buy the U.S. steel producer in a $4.5 billion. Again in M&A action, Reuters (RTRSY: chart) and Thomson (TOC: chart) confirmed deal talks, releasing details of the possible merger worth $17.4 billion in cash and stock. S&P 500 futures lost 4.80 points to 1,509.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 8.50 points to 1,898.25. Dow industrial futures shed 36 points to 13,304.


8:30AM Asian markets decline Tuesday with only China bucking the trend and advancing.