Stocks close in the red on mixed earnings

U.S. stocks fell Tuesday as investors digest an avalanche of corporate earnings that were mixed, with blue chip consumer-products maker Procter & Gamble faring well but others like heavy equipment maker Caterpillar disappointing Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 54 points, or 0.3%, to close at 18,169. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 0.4% to 2143 and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower to 5283.

Wall Street got a large slate of earnings reports from Dow components, including well-received reports from P&G (PG), which reported organic growth of 3%, as well as United Technologies (UTX), and drug maker Merck (MRK), which topped forecast with the help of strong sales of its cancer drug Keytruda.

But the good news was offset by weaker-than-expected results from companies like 3M (MMM) and Caterpillar (CAT), which cut its earnings view for the remainder of 2016, citing sluggish sales of its heavy equipment.

P&G shares rose 3.4%. Merck's stock rose  2%. And United Technologies shares jumped 1.9%. Caterpillar fell 1.8% and 3M fell 3%.

Shares of Dow component and chemical giant DuPont (DD) fell 0.7% despite topping profit and sales forecast and boosting its full-year 2016 earnings outlook. 3M shares fell 3% and Caterpillar's stock was unchanged. Caterpillar's outgoing CEO Doug Oberhelman, who is retiring later this year, painted a gloomy picture of the global economy, noting that "economic weakness throughout much of the world persists," in a press release containing the company's earnings results.

History suggests S&P set up for future gains

With the presidential election now two weeks away, investors are also bracing for the homestretch of the campaign and gearing up for any potential surprises.

Stocks have held up nicely in recent sessions as the third-quarter earnings season has gotten off to a better-than-expected start. Earnings growth for the July-thru-September quarter is above 1% currently, which has raised hopes that the quarterly streak of contracting earnings growth will end at four.

In economic news, consumer confidence fell more than expected in October, according to the Conference Board. But data on the U.S. housing market remained solid. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. home price index rose 0.2% in August and another index that tracks purchase prices saw an uptick of 0.7% in August, according to FHFA.

iPhone maker Apple reports its quarterly profit results after today's closing bell.