TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was in for a sharply lower open Tuesday as commodity prices retreated amid earnings disappointments in the U.S. and a fresh round of worry centred around Europe's debt crisis.

Falling prices for oil and metals helped push the Canadian dollar lower ahead of the Bank of Canada's announcement on interest rates, scheduled for 9 a.m. EDT.

The loonie lost 0.4 of a cent to 100.35 cents US, its lowest level since early August. There has been speculation the bank will change the language in its announcement to indicate that interest rate hikes are even further away than previously thought.

U.S. futures were sharply lower in the wake of disappointments from Dow heavyweights DuPont and 3M.

The Dow industrial futures lost 121 points to 13,171, the Nasdaq futures were down 24.8 points to 2,663 while the S&P 500 futures fell 14.9 points to 1,415.2.

Chemical maker DuPont reported net income of US$10 million Tuesday, or a penny per share. Excluding one-time items, DuPont earned 44 cents per share, compared with 69 cents per share for last year’s third quarter. The results fell short of the average estimate of 46 cents per share, and DuPont’s stock slid four per cent in premarket trading. Revenue totalled about $7.4 billion, down nine per cent from $8.1 billion.

And conglomerate 3M said its third-quarter profit edged up to $1.16 billion, or $1.65 a share, which met estimates. Sales dipped 0.4 per cent to $7.5 billion, which missed expectations of $7.63 billion. 3M also cut its 2012 profit estimate to a range of $6.27 to $6.35 a share, down from an earlier 2012 view of $6.35 to $6.50 a share, to reflect "current economic realities" and its shares fell about five per cent in pre-market trading.

3M makes everything from Post-it notes and Scotch tape to roofing granules, coatings for LCD screens and traffic sign coatings. The variety of its businesses and its worldwide footprint make it an economic bellwether.

The news was more positive from Canadian National Railways (TSX:CNR), which said after the close Monday it was maintaining its earnings growth outlook for 2012 despite anticipating a difficult end to the year due to a weak economy.

CN said it earned $664 million, or $1.52 per diluted and adjusted share, for the period ended Sept. 30., beating analyst estimates by a penny.

Expectations for this earnings season were already muted with analysts expecting the first year-over-year drop since 2009.

Analysts at Credit Suisse said in a report Tuesday that "roughly 25 per cent of the way through the U.S. reporting season, annual earnings per share growth is broadly flat."

Commodities weakened amid a move by Moody's Investor Services to downgrade five Spanish regions to below investment grade.

Spain has been the flashpoint of the eurozone's credit crisis as the country endures its second recession in three years with near 25 per cent unemployment after the property market collapsed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, at the same time crippling the country’s banks.

In September, the European Central Bank said it was prepared to buy unlimited amounts of bonds in countries struggling with their debts. This has helped the country by pushing its borrowing costs lower. But Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has held off triggering the actual purchases.

Oil prices headed lower with the December contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange losing $1.05 to US$87.60 a barrel as a major North American pipeline got set to reopen.

TransCanada is expected to soon restart its 3,380-kilometre Keystone pipeline. It was shut last Wednesday after tests showed possible safety issues. The pipeline carries about 590,000 barrels of crude per day from Canada to facilities in the U.S. Midwest.

Copper prices fell back with the December contract on the Nymex down five cents to US$3.57 a pound. December gold bullion gave back $17.40 to US$1,708.90 an ounce.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve starts its regular two-day policy meeting Tuesday, although little is expected in the midst of the election.

European bourses were also sharply lower with London's FTSE 100 index down 1.12 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX off 1.41 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 down 1.47 per cent.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index eked out a marginal gain, South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.8 per cent but mainland Chinese stocks lost ground, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 0.9 per cent. Hong Kong markets were closed for a public holiday.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2012