By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Coke, Boeing also set to grab the spotlight

Wall Street was set for a day in the red on Wednesday, with Apple posting one of the biggest premarket losses after a disappointing outlook for the current quarter.

A continued drop in oil prices and another round of big-name earnings results also kept some investors on the sidelines.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 56 points, or 0.3%, to 18,041, while those for the S&P 500 index fell 7.25 points, or 0.3%, to 2,131. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index lost 21.25 points, or 0.4%, to 4,864.75.

The indexes were weighed down by a 2.7% premarket slide for Apple Inc.(AAPL) after the iPhone maker late Tuesday posted quarterly earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-revenue-dips-but-rebound-expected-2016-10-25) that slightly beat expectations and revenue that was just shy of forecasts. Investors also may have been disappointed that the tech giant's projections for the current quarter weren't more bullish, analysts said.

Read:Apple forecast disappoints, but shares are still a bargain, analysts say (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-forecast-disappoints-but-shares-are-still-attractive-analysts-say-2016-10-26)

The market weakness on Wednesday comes after a downbeat day on Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-point-to-gains-as-apple-set-to-take-the-spotlight-2016-10-25) when worries about a string of lackluster earnings and a drop in consumer sentiment sent the S&P 500 0.3% lower and the Dow average down 0.3%.

Corporate news: Earnings were also a major theme on Wednesday, with two Dow components -- Coca-Cola Co.(KO) and Boeing Co.(BA) -- reporting before the open.

Coke shares rose 1.9% after the soft drink giant reported third-quarter revenue slightly better than expected, while Boeing gained 1.7% following a profit beat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boeings-stock-surges-after-profit-rises-well-above-expectations-2016-10-26).

Boston Scientific Corp.(BSX) climbed 2.5% after the medical-device maker lifted its full-year revenue outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boston-scientific-beats-sales-estimates-raises-full-year-outlook-2016-10-26).

Southwest Airlines Co.(LUV) slumped 7.4% ahead of the bell after the carrier reported a drop in third-quarter profit and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/southwest-airlines-shares-climb-after-earnings-beat-2016-10-26).

Tesla Motors Inc.(TSLA) and Texas Instruments Inc.(TXN) are due to report after the market close.

Read:Tesla third-quarter earnings -- what to expect (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-third-quarter-earnings-what-to-expect-2016-10-17)

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.(CMG) dropped 3.9% in thin premarket trade after the burrito chain late Tuesday reported a 95% slump in third-quarter profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chipotle-gives-optimist-outlook-profit-down-95-2016-10-25).

Pandora Media Inc.(P) tanked 8% after the web-radio service late Tuesday cut its outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pandora-cuts-outlook-amid-fewer-active-listeners-2016-10-25).

On the upside, Twitter Inc.(TWTR) gained 3.3% ahead of the open following speculation that Walt Disney Co.(DIS) has taken renewed interest in buying the social media company (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-shares-jump-on-rumor-of-renewed-disney-interest-2016-10-25).

Economic news: The September trade data for goods come out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, followed by the flash reading of the services purchasing managers index for October at 9:45 a.m.

At 10 a.m., new homes for September are due, expected to fall back to 600,000 from 609,000 in August, according to economists polled by MarketWatch.

Investors are closely watching U.S. data these days, trying to gauge if the readings strengthen or weaken the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans earlier this week said the central bank is likely to hike rates three times (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-evans-wants-to-tie-pace-of-interest-rate-hikes-to-inflation-performance-2016-10-24) between now and the end of 2017. He didn't rule out taking action at the upcoming November, December or January meetings.

The probability of a Fed hike in November is low at only 8.3%, according to the CME Group's Fed Watch tool (http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html), which measures pricing in the Fed funds futures market. However, for December the tool is pointing to an almost 80% chance of a rate increase.

"An unexpected Donald Trump victory in the U.S. presidential election next month or a horrendous U.S. economic data release are currently seen as the only possible banana skin on the road to the Federal Reserve raising U.S. interest rates at the end of 2016," said Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst at FXTM, in a note.

See:

Oil blues: Declining oil prices weighed on stock markets for a second day on Wednesday. Crude oil slid 1.4% to $49.28 a barrel and Brent fell 1.3% to $50.11 after U.S. inventory day out on Tuesday showed a larger-than-expected growth in stockpiles (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-futures-drop-as-sources-say-api-data-show-us-crude-supply-up-48-mln-barrels-2016-10-25).

Falling oil tends inspire caution in the markets, and "there is a slight deterioration in sentiment that is taking hold today," said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, in a note.

Other markets: Stocks in Asia closed mostly lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/australian-wipeout-leads-asian-market-declines-2016-10-25), and Europe followed suit with all major benchmarks mired in red (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-down-for-third-straight-day-as-commodity-shares-pull-back-2016-10-26).

Metals traded mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-at-three-week-highs-as-dollar-stocks-wobble-2016-10-26), with gold futures firming initially but now off 0.2% and silver down 0.6%.

The ICE dollar index slipped 0.2% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-struggles-to-move-higher-aussie-dollar-surges-on-inflation-2016-10-26) after touching its highest level in nearly nine months on Tuesday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2016 08:09 ET (12:09 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.