(RTTNews) - Stocks are poised for a lower open on Tuesday, as a lack of first tier economic data and the beginning of the Federal Reserve’s two-day rate setting meeting has some traders poised to take profits. The major index futures are all in negative territory, with the Dow futures down by 57 points.

Amid a light day on the economic front, traders will be presented with a Commerce Department report on factory goods orders for September at 10:00 a.m. ET. Economists expect that orders for factory goods rose 0.8 percent during the month after declining by 0.8 percent in August.

Traders may also react to landmark acquisition news this morning, with Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa) agreeing to acquire the shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) is does not already own for $100 per share.

The transaction is valued at approximately $44 billion and is the largest ever made by Warren Buffet’s firm. The news has substantially lifted the railroad sector in pre-market trading, despite an overall lower open expected by the equity markets.

Further, power tool maker Stanley Works (SWK) and Black & Decker Corp. (BDK) said that they have entered into a merger agreement to create Stanley Black & Decker, an $8.4 billion global industrial leader in an all-stock transaction valued at about $4.5 billion.

The companies said that the Stanley and Black & Decker combination would create a stronger, globally diversified company with a broad array of products and services.

In earnings news, independent exploration and production company Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) said that its third quarter profit fell sharply from last year, as revenue dropped as a result of lower energy prices. At the same time, the company raised its sales-volume forecast for the full year.

Swiss banking giant UBS AG (UBS) reported a loss for its third quarter, reflecting hefty charges mainly related to financial liabilities. Looking ahead, UBS said it expects another credit charge in the fourth quarter, while it anticipates further progress in restoring the underlying profitability of the business in future quarters, particularly in 2010.

Stocks were able to eke out solid gains on Monday after reaction to a number of economic reports and some Fed comments on the financial sector prompted some volatility. The Dow closed up 77 points at 9,789, the Nasdaq closed up 4 points at 2,049 and the S&P 500 closed up 7 points at 1,043.

Crude oil futures are sliding by $0.65 to $77.48 a barrel after rising by $1.13 to $78.13 on Monday. Meanwhile, gold futures are on the rise, up by $2.20 to $1,062.10 an ounce after jumping by $13.60 to $1,054.00 per ounce in the previous session.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is higher against the major European currencies, climbing to $1.4667 versus the euro and rising to $1.6346 versus the pound. The dollar is little changed against the Japanese yen, sitting at 90.28 yen.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed lower on Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.8 percent and India’s BSE 30 Index fell by 3.1 percent. The Japanese market was closed for a public holiday.

The major European markets are also moving notably lower. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and the French CAC 40 Index are down by 1.8 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, while the German DAX Index is falling by 1.5 percent.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Eurozone, Japan, Releases, Switzerland, USA.

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