US stocks are set for a crashing start and corporate news in focus on Tuesday included Bayer (ETR:BAYN), its subsidiary Monsanto and the weedkiller Roundup.
In a case that involves a school groundskeeper which hit the headlines before, a US judge yesterday re-affirmed a verdict against Bayer AG unit Monsanto that found its glyphosate-based weed-killers responsible for his terminal cancer.
Bayer shares sank 8.51% to stand at €69.95.
Judge Bolanos said she would slash the punitive damages award to $39 million from $250 million if lawyers for the groundsman Dewayne Johnson were in agreement.
In August this year, a jury found the company's glyphosate-based weed-killers, including RoundUp, had caused the cancer and that the company failed to warn consumers about the risks.
Monsanto denies the allegations and asked the judge to throw out the entire original $289 million verdict or order a new trial on the punitive damages portion.
In other news, iconic motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) saw shares accelerate 1.21% to $39.20 in pre-market deals.
It came as the company's quarterly profit zoomed past Wall Street estimates and it maintained its 2018 shipments forecast.
The Milwaukee-based company had profit for the third quarter of $0.68 against consensus estimates of $0.47 a share.
Harley also reported revenue of $1.12 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts.
Elsewhere, 3M (NYSE:MMM), the maker of Post-It notes, shed 7.4% to hover at $186.40 after its third-quarter profit missed expectations and it slashed its full-year earnings forecast.
The company posted a third-quarter profit of $2.58 a share, which missed the Street's estimates of $2.70. Its revenue came in at $8.15 billion, which also fell short of expectations of $8.41 billion.
3M also pared back its full-year adjusted earnings to $9.90 to $10 a share, which misses the Street's estimate of $10.28.
The trade bellwether Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) was also sinking and lost 8% to hit $118.14 before the ringing of the opening bell. The sell-off came after trade tariff expenses added $40 million to the costs of materials for the exporter of earth-moving machinery in the third quarter.
Caterpillar posted adjusted earnings of $2.86 a share, which narrowly beat the Street's estimate of $2.85.
In other news, Cadence Design Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) surged 8.4% to $44.02 as the electronic and software firm beat analysts' estimates in its third quarter.
It posted earnings of $0.49 a share, which was adjusted for onetime items. Analysts were expecting earnings per share of $0.41.
A share riser in pre-market was Arconic Inc (NYSE:ARNC), the aluminium products firm, which is now considering an $11 billion acquisition offer it received last week from buyout firm
Apollo Global Management LLC, according to Reuters.
President Trump’s aluminum tariffs have increased the group's costs this year.