Investors Brace for Impact as Hurricane Irma Barrels Toward the Coast

This is what you need to know on Tuesday:

1. European stocks opened lower Wednesday as global investors retrench to safety following the biggest single-day loss for U.S. markets in three weeks amid ongoing concern over President Donald Trump's handling of the crisis in North Korea.

2. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields extended their declines overnight, falling to a 10-month low of 2.06% as traders piled cash into government bond positions and added further to the move after U.S. Federal Reserve rate-setter Lael Brainard said inflation was "well below" the central bank's target

3. Global oil prices were also under pressure as investors re-set assumptions for near-term demand following the damage from Hurricane Harvey in and around the heart of the U.S. petrochemicals industry in Houston and the broader Gulf region.

4. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Wednesday that Hurricane Irma is a "potentially catastrophic" storm that could bring 185 mile-per-hour winds to the coast of South Florida later this week as it gathers pace towards the Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

5. The S&P 500, which fell 0.93% for its biggest one-day decline since early August, is poised to rise around 2.5 points at the bell while the Nasdaq may gain back around 9 of the near 60 points it lost in Tuesday's selling.

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