By Anora Mahmudova and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

PepsiCo earnings beat forecast; Freeport-McMoRan weighs changes; DuPont shares move in premarket trading

U.S. stock futures were trading slightly lower Tuesday as investors digested disappointing trade data that showed a stronger dollar hurt exports and resulted in a wider trade deficit in August.

Investors were likely taking a breather after a recent bout of solid stock-market gains, ahead of the start of third-quarter corporate results.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points, or less than 0.1%, to 16,649, while those for the S&P 500 index gave up 3.2 points, or 0.2%, to 1,971. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index dropped 10 points, or 0.2%, to 4,301.

The modest pullback comes after a global rally on Monday, during which the S&P 500 index rose for a fifth session in a row (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-point-higher-as-markets-rally-worldwide-2015-10-05), its longest winning streak this year. The gains came as a string of U.S. economic data suggested that the a Federal Reserve rate increase might be pushed back to 2016.

Before Friday's lackluster nonfarm-payrolls report, investors were expecting the central bank to lift rates by the end of 2015, based on the health of the economy and comments from Fed officials.

On Tuesday, traders will get more Fed comments, when San Francisco Fed President John Williams gives a speech on the economic outlook in San Francisco at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Williams is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.

In economic news, the U.S. trade deficit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-trade-deficit-leaps-16-in-august-to-483-billion-2015-10-06) jumped almost 16% in August to $48.3 billion, largely because of a strong dollar that reduced exports to their lowest level in three years.

Earnings: Instead of data watching, investors will be preparing for the third-quarter earnings season, which unofficially kicks off when Alcoa Inc.(AA) reports earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-watch-for-in-alcoas-earnings-2015-10-05) after the closing bell Thursday.

Ahead of the bell, Freeport-McMoRan Inc.(FCX) stock surged 1.9% in premarket trading after the company said it was reviewing alternatives for its oil-and-gas business, including a spinoff of a joint venture, and reducing its board, as it combats a slump in commodity prices.

PepsiCo Inc.(PEP) on Tuesday reported adjusted third-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pepsico-shares-rise-29-after-earnings-beat-forecasts-2015-10-06). Shares were up 2.7% ahead of the bell.

After the market closes, third-quarter results from Yum! Brands Inc.(YUM) are on tap.

Movers & shakers: Shares of DuPont Co.(DD) climbed 6.6% premarket after the chemical company late Monday said longtime chief executive Ellen Kullman will retire on Oct. 16 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dupont-reduces-outlook-and-announces-departure-of-ceo-shares-rally-2015-10-05).

Shares of some technology companies were moving lower after the EU's top court struck down (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/safe-harbor-ruling-threatens-us-transfer-of-eu-customer-data-2015-10-06)a 15-year-old agreement that allowed technology companies to move customer data from Europe to the U.S. Apple Inc.(AAPL) lost 0.6% premarket, while Facebook Inc.(FB) fell 0.7%.

Shares of Skyworks Solutions Inc.(SWKS) rose 2.1% ahead of the bell after the semiconductor company said it would buy PMC-Sierra Inc.(PMCS) for $2 billion in cash. PMC shares jumped 31%.

Other markets:European stock markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-fall-from-two-week-high-2015-10-06) were modestly higher.

Asian markets closed mostly higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), with Japan's Nikkei 225 index up 1% on bets the Bank of Japan may further loosen monetary policy at its meeting this week.

Oil futures were lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) ahead of U.S. inventory data, while metals were mixed. The dollar dropped against (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) most other major currencies.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 06, 2015 08:56 ET (12:56 GMT)

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