(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session notably lower, stocks could see some further downside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 20 points.<\/p>\n
Renewed concerns about the financial situation in Europe are likely to contribute to any early weakness on Wall Street after helping to drag stocks sharply at the start of trading on Monday.<\/p>\n
Adding to the worries about Europe, credit ratings agency Moody's revised the outlooks on the Aaa sovereign ratings of Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to negative from stable.<\/p>\n
Moody's cited the rising uncertainty regarding the outcome of the euro area debt crisis, which stems in part from the increased likelihood of Greece's exit from the euro area.<\/p>\n
In other troubling news out of Europe, flash estimates released by Markit Economics showed that its manufacturing index for the eurozone slid 1 point to 44.1 in July. On the other hand, the services index rose 0.5 points to 47.6.<\/p>\n
The composite index for both industries remained below 50 for the sixth consecutive month, holding unchanged at 46.4, in line with expectations.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, a similar report from Markit Economics revealed that the purchasing managers index for China came in at 49.5 in July, up from 48.2 in June. While the index remained below the key 50 level, it suggested the slowest contraction in manufacturing activity in five months.<\/p>\n
Traders are also digesting the latest batch of earnings news, including quarterly results from well known companies such as AT&T (T) and DuPont (DD).<\/p>\n