United States stocks edge higher after a big week; Eli Lilly slumps

United Continental fell 1.4 percent. The company is grappling with declining demand for personal computers.

US 30-year Treasury bonds were last up 16/32 in price to yield 2.9024 percent, from a yield of 2.928 percent late on Friday.

A more than 20 percent dive in Chinese imports led to renewed worries about a growth slowdown in the world’s number two economy Tuesday, hitting most Asian equities and emerging currencies as investors flocked to safe assets.

EARNINGS OUTLOOK: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup are among the banks that will report third-quarter earnings this week.

Dollar General ( DG ) announced restructuring initiatives, including the elimination of 225 corporate support functions, to drive growth. The pesticide maker followed rivals Monsanto and DuPont facing weaker sales related to the slumping Brazilian real. The fall also reflected weak Chinese trade data, including low inflation in the world’s second-largest economy. Faced with concerns about a global slowdown, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Wednesday that it will ease its monetary policy for the second time this year by slowing the pace of the Singapore dollar’s appreciation.

The USA bond market was closed on Monday. In addition, the stronger yen weighed on exporters’ stocks.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 30.79 points or 0.93 percent before ending at 3,262 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended at 22,440, down 160.55 points or 0.71 percent.

China’s exports fell less than expected in September but a sharper fall in imports left economists divided over whether the country’s ailing trade sector is showing signs of turning around. ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are down in a range of 0.2 percent to nearly 1 percent. The report showed that optimism “continues to be stagnant”. The Nasdaq composite gave up 20 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,818. (UNH), up 2.3%, but a slide in Merck & Co. Inc.

The results of a survey by the Westpac Bank showed that confidence among consumers in Australia improved in October.

EUROPE’S DAY: The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.7 per cent. Germany’s DAX index was little changed and France’s CAC-40 was off 0.4 per cent.

The Australian market opened lower for a third straight session, tracking the weak cues overnight from Wall Street and lower commodity prices.

Although finding firmer footing to climb higher in late morning trade, stocks have been switching between small gains and losses throughout the early part of the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 76.7 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 17,055.16. It’s not much we haven’t heard before; the Fed expects to raise rates this year depending on how the economy performs, the recent jobs report was dispiriting, and the Fed is paying close attention to the global economy, especially to China. The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance increased unexpectedly by 4,600 from August.