US stocks sank on Tuesday ahead of the unofficial start of third-quarter earnings season after the bell, as worries about global growth fuelled concerns that corporate profits may disappoint.

However, as Alcoa and Yum! Brands showed this evening, investors had little to worry about with shares of rising in after-market trade after both firms beat consensus predictions.

Aluminium giant Alcoa reported a third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) excluding charges of $0.03, surprising analysts who had expected a break-even result. Sales fell 8% year-on-year to $5.8bn but still beat the $5.56bn forecasts. However, the company did cut its full-year global aluminium demand growth guidance from 7% to 6%.

As for Yum, the company reported EPS of $1, better than the $0.97 estimate. The company also raised its full-year EPS growth target rate to at least 13%.

Tuesday's trading session was dampened by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) "World Economic Outlook", in which the IMF said that "prospects have deteriorated further and risks increased". It now expects the world economy to grow 3.3% in 2012 compared to the prior 3.5% July estimate and just 3.6% in 2013, down from the previous 3.9% forecast. Forecasts for the Eurozone, UK and emerging markets were all cut.

The IMF Survey Magazine said that the new forecasts rest on two crucial policy assumptions: "that European policymakers get the euro area crisis under control and that policymakers in the United States take action of tackle the 'fiscal cliff' and do not allow automatic tax increases and spending cuts to take effect. Failure to act on either issue would make growth prospects far worse.

Market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari this afternoon: "Overall the revision won't make too much of a difference. We are anticipating a pullback in share prices over the next few weeks with third-quarter reporting expected to show poor earnings."

Stateside, confidence among small businesses eased off in September, according to the results of a survey by the National Federation of Business. The Federation's optimism index retreated to 92.8 from 92.9 in August, the fourth time in the last five months that the index has moved lower.

Brokers weigh in


With company news thin on the ground ahead of the start of earnings season, the field was left open for brokers to move shares prices with research notes.

Computer chip colossus Intel was marked down after Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded the shares.

In contrast, RadioShack was buzzing after BofA Merrill Lynch upgraded the consumer electronics retailer after the shares had taken a tumble recently.

The same broker reacted to Netflix's sharp rise on Monday by downgrading the media streaming firm to "under-perform" from "buy", because the stock had passed the broker's target price.

Edwards Lifesciences was among the worst performing blue-chips after it warned third-quarter sales are set to be below market expectations. The heart valve maker lowered third-quarter sales guidance after the bell on Monday to $448m, having previously indicated the figure would be somewhere between $465m and $485m.




S&P 500 - Risers
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $7.28 +7.37%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $32.62 +6.12%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $23.93 +5.70%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $14.67 +4.49%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $33.11 +4.35%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $48.55 +4.23%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $21.10 +3.58%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $23.99 +3.18%
Noble Corp (NE) $36.13 +2.93%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $105.33 +2.67%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $84.60 -21.24%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $65.53 -10.87%
Masco Corp. (MAS) $14.67 -5.78%
Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) $21.07 -4.66%
Zimmer Holdings Inc. (ZMH) $63.75 -4.59%
Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $69.45 -4.33%
Constellation Brands Inc. Class A (STZ) $34.78 -4.32%
Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $45.58 -4.18%
Fossil Inc. (FOSL) $83.06 -4.15%
CBS Corp. (CBS) $34.86 -3.70%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $92.11 +0.62%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $9.13 +0.11%
Boeing Co. (BA) $70.64 +0.10%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $27.55 +0.00%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.90 -2.71%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $29.28 -1.68%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $51.51 -1.57%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $49.50 -1.51%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $60.95 -1.50%
3M Co. (MMM) $93.94 -1.50%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $68.41 -1.48%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $74.14 -1.48%
AT&T Inc. (T) $37.14 -1.38%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $77.33 -1.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $22.83 +1.31%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $58.95 +0.63%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $13.01 +0.19%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $32.13 +0.03%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $27.55 +0.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $65.53 -10.87%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $106.48 -6.83%
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $7.80 -5.34%
Fossil Inc. (FOSL) $83.06 -4.15%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $40.72 -3.96%
Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) $23.27 -3.64%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $46.22 -3.55%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $68.14 -3.48%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $111.30 -3.42%
DIRECTV (DTV) $51.02 -3.37%

BC

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