Bank of America's quarterly net income plunges 95% to $268 million, or 5 cents a share, far below estimates. More soon.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street looked set to join the global market rout early Tuesday, as the threat of a U.S. recession battered sentiment worldwide.
At 6:30 a.m. ET, futures were indicating a disastrous start for stocks. Dow futures were down 4 percent to 11,622 while S&P futures lost 4.3 percent to 1267.50. Such a decline would mark the sharpest drop at the open for U.S. stocks since the first session following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"It's going to be a very rough ride this morning for U.S. equities," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co.
Weighing on futures were steep selloffs in overseas markets, which plunged Monday amid fears that the U.S. slowdown would spill over to the global economy.
The dramatic selling showed no signs of letting up Tuesday. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei lost another 5.7 percent, although some major European indexes leveled off in late morning trade after falling early in the session.
U.S. markets were closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and traders have a busy day as they return to work.
A number of companies are set to report earnings before the opening bell including Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Wachovia (WB, Fortune 500) and Dupont (DD, Fortune 500).
President Bush and lawmakers from both parties are also due to meet Tuesday to discuss a package to juice the faltering economy. Last week, Bush unveiled a stimulus plan worth up to $150 billion.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is also expected to deliver remarks about the economy at 8 a.m. in Washington D.C.
Amid rising recession fears, many investors have been hoping that the Federal Reserve would step in and cut rates before its next scheduled meeting, a two-day session that wraps up Jan. 30.
Oil fell on recession fears, as crude prices lost $3.21 a barrel to $87.36 a barrel in electronic trading.
No major economic reports are slated for release.
In corporate news, eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) CEO Meg Whitman plans to retire, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) also is considering cutting hundreds of jobs, according to published reports.
