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Stocks are likely to come under pressure in early trading on Tuesday, as traders react to disappointing quarterly results from Alcoa (AA). The major index futures are currently indicating a notably lower open, with the Dow futures down by 55 points. The downward momentum comes after Alcoa released its first quarter results after the close of trading on Monday, marking the unofficial start of the quarterly earnings season. Alcoa reported first quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $0.28 per share compared to $0.10 per share in the same quarter a year ago. The earnings growth came as revenues for the quarter rose 22 percent year-over-year to $5.96 billion. While the aluminum giant's earnings exceeded analyst estimates by a penny, the revenues for the quarter came in below expectations of $6.07 billion. Renewed concerns about the nuclear crisis in Japan are also likely to contribute to the initial weakness on Wall Street after Japan raised the crisis rating at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to a level on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in February, as the value of imports decreased at a faster rate than the value of exports. The report showed that the trade deficit narrowed to $45.8 billion in February from a revised $47 billion in January. Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to $44 billion from the $46.3 billion originally reported for the previous month. A separate report from the Labor Department showed that total import prices increased at the fastest rate in almost two years in March, as prices for fuel imports showed a substantial increase The Labor Department said import prices surged up by 2.7 percent in March following a 1.4 percent increase in February. The increase marked the fastest rate of import price growth since a matching increase in June of 2009. Excluding a 9.0 percent jump in prices for fuel imports, import prices increased by a much more modest 0.6 percent in March compared to a 0.5 percent increase in the previous month. While selling pressure was relatively subdued, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday. The modest weakness in the markets came as some traders cashed in on recent strength ahead of the start of earnings season. Despite the weakness in the broader markets, the major averages closed mixed, as the Dowmanaged to post a modest gain. The Dow edged up 1.06 points or less than 0.1 percent to 12,381.11, while the Nasdaq fell 8.91 points or 0.3 percent to 2,771.51 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.71 points or 0.3 percent to 1,324.46. In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the nuclear crisis in Japan. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell by 1.7 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 1.3 percent. The major European markets are also showing notable moves to the downside. The U.K.'s FTSE 100Index has fallen by 1.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 1.3 percent. Crude oil futures are trading down $0.37 at $109.55 a barrel after plummeting $2.87 to $109.92 a barrel on Monday. Gold futures are currently slipping $1.90 to $1,446.20 an ounce. In the previous session, the precious metal retreated from a record high, ending down $6 at $1,468.10 an ounce. On the currency front, the U.S. dollar weakened against the yen on Monday, settling the session at 84.60 yen. The greenback is currently valued at 83.977 yen and is worth $1.4511 versus the eurocompared to the previous session's closing value of $1.4436.