Stock Futures Point to Further Wall Street Losses

Sara Lepro

NEW YORK -- Wall Street appeared ready to extend its losses Tuesday as investors already uneasy about weak corporate profit reports awaited a reading on overseas demand for U.S. products.

The Commerce Department will release monthly trade data for November at 8:30 a.m. EST. Wall Street expects the U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly as oil prices fell. U.S. imports of other products are also expected to have fallen in November, reflecting the deepening recession. But at the same time, spreading weakness overseas has sharply curbed demand for American exports, which until recently had been the one bright spot for the U.S. economy.

Underscoring the pain American manufacturers are feeling, aluminum giant Alcoa(AA Quote) reported late Monday that it lost $1.2 billion during the fourth quarter as demand for aluminum plunged. Other companies also are warning that their results are being hit hard by the recession.

Investors remain on edge as more companies prepare to report earnings over the next few weeks. Investors are watching closely for companies' expectations for business conditions in 2009.

The market will get an earlier-than-expected reading on the financial sector this week when JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote)reports earnings on Thursday, nearly a week ahead of its original schedule. Investors are fearful of another year of multibillion dollar losses among financial companies.

Meanwhile, Citigroup(C Quote) and Morgan Stanley (MS Quote) are expected to announce a deal as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday to combine their brokerage operations as Citi struggles to raise additional cash.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 66, or 0.8%, to 8,378. S&P 500 index futures fell 8.80, or 1.01%, to 859.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 13, or 1.08%, to 1,193.