LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - US equities were largely flat early on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a number of key reports to be released later this week.
Just after 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was two points higher to 17,599.80, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained two and five points respectively.

"The Dow has been in decline since May, and now that the US reporting season is coming to an end, and the Fed's meeting is on traders' minds, the downward trend is here to stay," said IG's analyst David Madden.

"Dealers are very much divided over the possibility of an interest rate hike next month, but those who don't foresee a rate increase can't be convinced to buy into the market."

Tuesday data

Orders for goods produced in US factories climbed 1.8% in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The reading was in line with expectation following a downward revised 1.1% decline in May

With little on offer in terms of economic data, the earnings season takes centre stage yet again, with a number of Wall Street heavyweights set to report on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, most indices in Asia continued to fall, although the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.7% on news of a regulatory clampdown on short-selling to curb volatility.

European stocks fell, breaking a five-session winning streak, with oil and gas stocks leading the decline as investors sifted through a raft of earnings reports.

The dollar was broadly flat against the pound but gained 0.11% against the yen only to fall by the same margin against the euro, while gold futures climbed 0.17% to $1,091.20

Oil prices staged a solid rebound after plunging on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate climbing 1.89% to $46.04 a barrel, while Brent gained 1.26% to $50.15 a barrel.

Earnings in focus

Among the companies that published results ahead of the bell, office products supplier Office Depot climbed 0.63%, even though its second quarter sales missed expectations.

The group added it plans to shut another 175 stores within the end of 2015, with an additional 60 to be closed in 2016.

Oilseeds, corn and wheat processor Archer-Daniels Midland rose 2.73% in pre-market trading after its second revenue and earnings both fell short of estimates.

Twitter edged 0.96% higher, despite opening at an all-time low after the social media giant closed at a record low of $29.27 on Monday night.

Going the other way, Toyota fell 2.99% despite posting a record first quarter profit fueled by a weak yen, although the group would have reported a decline in operating profit had it not been for the favourable currency impact.

Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation and Walt Disney are set to report after the close.

"Somewhat a dark horse compared to the flashier likes of Google, Amazon, Apple and Netflix, Disney has nevertheless consistently broken its all-time highs this year, and looks set to announce yet another strong quarter," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

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