Earnings results have been streaming in this morning. Here's how some of the companies that reported are trading premarket:

Verizon (VZ) stock fell over 4% before recovering somewhat as higher prices and offseason promotions by AT&T (T) and T-Mobile (TMUS) resulted in softer wireless subscriber numbers than Wall Street expected.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB) shares also fell more than 4% after reporting mixed earnings. The maker of Kleenex tissues and diapers slashed its annual profit forecast and warned that tariffs would raise supply chain costs.

Halliburton (HAL) fell 1% after a slowdown in North American drilling activity weighed on the oilfield services provider's first quarter profits. Tariffs are expected to drive up the cost of equipment for the Houston-based company.

GE Aerospace (GE) popped 2% after the jet engine maker beat Q1 profit estimates and reaffirmed its earnings forecast for 2025. Per Reuters, airplane shortages are driving demand for parts and services, a segment that accounts for 70% of GE's revenue.

Later on today, investors will closely watch Tesla (TSLA) earnings for updates on Elon Musk's role in government and the automaker's new cheaper EV.

The International Monetary Fund has cut growth forecasts for the year, pinning the blame on US tariffs and the uncertainty they have wrought.

The Fund said the impact will be a "significant slowdown". It had previously forecast growth of 3.3%, but cut that on Tuesday to 2.8%.

The US is among the countries receiving the biggest downgrade, with growth predicted to be 1.8% rather than the estimated 2.7%.

The UK's growth was also cut from 1.6% to 1.1%.

Reteurs reports:

Yahoo Finance UK's Vicky McKeever writes:

In the UK market, precious metals miner Fresnillo (FRES.L) was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), climbing nearly 3% on Tuesday morning.

This came as gold prices surged to fresh highs, briefly topping the $3,500 per ounce mark, before easing back.

Investors have been flocking to gold amid uncertainty over Trump's fast-moving tariff agenda. The president's criticism of Fed chair Powell appears to be the latest concern driving investors to gold, which is considered a safe haven asset.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said: "If the administration is able or willing to follow through on its threat to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell before his term is up next year, it could provoke an even stronger reaction amid fears about the implications for inflation.

"US currency and government debt are often a safe haven during times of market turbulence but, with America the source of much of the recent volatility, investors have been reaching for another obvious port in the storm, gold, in large numbers."

A Bank of England policymaker said US trade tariffs are more likely to push down on UK inflation than to push it up, but that there are risks on both sides.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Megan Greene said: “The tariffs represent more of a disinflationary risk than an inflationary risk.”

However, she added: “There’s a ton of uncertainty around this, but there are both inflationary and disinflationary forces.”

She said potential outcomes like export substitution would likely push inflation down, while “trade diversion from other countries that are trying to find a new home for their markets, that also pushes down on inflation”.

Meanwhile, “a re-patterning of supply chains can push up on inflation”, while trade fragmentation more widely “reduces potential growth, that tends to be inflationary”.

Pedro Goncalves writes:

Gold hit $3,500 per ounce for the first time this morning, extending a rally that has pushed bullion up from $2,623 an ounce at the start of this year.

Gold futures were up 1.6% to $3,478.90 per ounce at the time of writing, while the spot price had retreated from its new record to trade at $3,473.96 an ounce.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The tariff tug-of-war still has no end in sight, and now the Powell power struggle is adding more fuel to the fire, with whispers from the White House about his potential ousting rattling already jittery investors.

"At this rate, even bad news might be seen as a buying signal – if only because something, anything, from Washington might offer a sliver of direction.

“Markets are now itching for real progress on trade deals – posts from the president on Truth Social or X just aren’t cutting the mustard anymore. Investors want ink on paper, not just words, as a clear signal that movement is happening – and the clock is ticking.

“This lack of certainty is sending investors right into the arms of traditional safe haven assets, with gold and the Japanese yen both cashing in on the drama.”

Gold has surged more than 30% this year as the US president’s tariff war has upended markets and eroded trust in dollar-based assets.

Lee Liang Le, an analyst at Kallanish Index Services, said: “Gold’s rapid ascent this year tells me that markets have less confidence in the US than ever before. The ‘Trump Trade’ narrative has evolved into a ‘sell America’ narrative.”

US stock futures edged up after a bruising day on Wall Street marked by renewed criticism of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell by president Trump.

Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) climbed 0.5%. Futures for the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F) ascended 0.7% and futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) pushed 0.6% higher.

On Monday, stocks tanked as Trump took to social media to say that the US economy would slow unless Powell cuts interest rates now, calling the Fed chair "Mr. Too Late" and "a major loser."

Trump's comments escalated growing tensions between the president and the central bank. Last week, after Powell warned on Trump's tariffs and reiterated the Fed would take a cautious approach to reducing rates, Trump hit back with "Powell's termination can't come soon enough."

For investors trying to keep up with Trump's fast-moving trade policy, the rift adds another layer of stubborn uncertainty as to where the economy could go next.

Read more on Yahoo Finance

Our US team writes:

Tesla (TSLA) stock closed down 5.8% on Monday as a big first quarter earnings report looms tomorrow after the bell. Questions surrounding CEO Elon Musk's return to Tesla's offices from Washington, D.C., and the status of the company's upcoming cheaper EV are swirling ahead of the report, with the stock down nearly 44% year to date.

Tesla's Q1 report comes with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) threateningly close to bear market territory and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) clearly in it. Trump's tariff war is fuelling broad-based selling and fears of a global economic slowdown. His auto sector tariffs of 25% on foreign imports have automakers like Tesla in a bind.

Tesla is expected to report Q1 revenue of $21.43bn, per Bloomberg estimates, just slightly higher than the $21.3bn reported a year ago. From a profitability standpoint, the Street is expecting adjusted EPS of $0.44, translating to adjusted net income of $1.57 billion, slightly higher than the $1.54bn posted last year.

Read more on Yahoo Finance

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here. Ready to bring you news of what's bothering markets following the long weekend.

With earnings season having kicked off in earnest, expect reports from:

• Tesla (TSLA)

• Lockheed Martin (LMT)

• Verizon (VZ)

Otherwise, the economic calendar is pretty sparse today. There's been some action in currency markets as traders digest a potential crisis of independence for the Federal Reserve.

Let's get to it.