US stock futures drift lower ahead of open

NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures drifted lower Tuesday as Johnson & Johnson issued mixed results.

Overseas, European stocks slid, while Asian stocks rose moderately. The dollar fell further against other major currencies, sending commodity prices higher. Bond prices also rose, recovering from steep losses last week.

The slight dip in futures came as Johnson & Johnson, the first among a number of key companies this week to issue quarterly results, reported a worse-than-expected decline in sales.

The health care and consumer products company said revenue in the third quarter slipped 5 percent, missing analyst estimates. Its profit inched up 1 percent, narrowly beating expectations.

Investors want to see signs that businesses and consumers are picking up their spending and that companies have been able to drive higher profits through revenue growth, not just through deep cost cuts, which helped boost income in the second quarter.

“They’re not telling us the hoped for better-than-expected sales,” said Linda Duessel, equity market strategist at Federated Investors. “We want sales growth now.”

Later Tuesday, investors will also get reports from chip maker Intel Corp. and railroad operator CSX Corp.

Investors around the globe have sent stocks higher in recent days on hopes that third-quarter earnings reports, which begin in earnest this week, will exceed expectations and validate the market’s growing belief that the economy is healing.

Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 13, or 0.1 percent, to 9,806. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1.80, or 0.2 percent, to 1,070, while Nasdaq 100 index futures lost 0.50, or 0.03 percent, to 1,727.25.

The Dow moved as high as 9,931 on Monday, just 69 points away from 10,000, a level not seen in a year. It was the third straight day of gains for the index. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which has risen over the past six sessions, also finished at its highest level in a year.

The gains have been driven in large part by expectations for upbeat earnings reports, stoked by solid profits at companies like Alcoa Inc. and Royal Philips Electronics.

Later this week, investors will look to reports from a number of the largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., which reports on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. report results on Thursday, while Bank of America Corp. is scheduled to issue its report on Friday.

In European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.04 percent, while Germany’s DAX index and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.4 percent. Earlier Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.6 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.8 percent.

The ICE Futures U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar against other major currencies, dropped to a 14-month low. Gold subsequently hit a record high $1,069.70 an ounce, while oil prices added 73 cents to $74 a barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other trading, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.32 percent from 3.38 percent late Friday. Bond markets were closed Monday in observance of the Columbus Day holiday.

Johnson & Johnson shares fell $1.53, or 2.4 percent, to $61 in premarket trading after its earnings report.

In corporate news, CIT Group Inc., the beleaguered lender which has been trying to avoid bankruptcy for months, said Tuesday that its chairman and CEO Jeffrey M. Peek plans to resign at the end of the year.

CIT shares dropped more than 16 percent in premarket trading, falling 17 cents to $0.87.