U.S. stocks open lower on earnings, data

NEW YORK, May 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday as investors digested a slew of corporate earnings reports as well as major economic data.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased 98.13 points, or 0.41 percent, to 24,065.02. The S&P 500 decreased 6.54 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,641.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.27 points, or 0.10 percent, to 7,059.00.

On the earnings front, first quarter earnings of U.S.-listed companies are expected to increase 24.6 percent year-on-year, according to Thomson Reuters' latest estimates released on Monday.

Of the 274 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date, 79.2 percent have reported earnings above analyst expectations. This is above the long-term average of 64 percent and above the prior four quarter average of 72 percent, the estimates said.

The first-quarter blended revenue growth estimate is 8.1 percent. Some 73.6 percent of companies have reported revenue above analyst expectations, according to the estimates.

Merck, Pfizer and Aetna all reported stronger-than-forecast results before the closing bell on Tuesday. However, shares of Merck and Pfizer dropped 0.73 percent and 2.24 percent respectively in early trading.

Investors will also keep a close eye on Apple's earnings report, which will be released Tuesday after the trading session.

On the economic front, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit final U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) registered 56.5 in April, up from 55.6 in March and indicated the strongest manufacturing growth in over three-and-a-half years. Enditem