Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Safe haven
Bond yields are lower Tuesday morning as investors seek safe haven amid the violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Remember, the bond market was closed Monday for Columbus Day, so this is the first yield movement in response to the geopolitical tensions. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was down 12 basis points at 4.659% Tuesday, lifting stock futures. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures all added about 0.2% as Wall Street cheered a break in recent rising interest rates. Follow live market updates.
2. Border siege
Israel says it's regained control of the country's border along the Gaza Strip, four days after attacks on southern Israel by Palestinian militant organization Hamas. The Israeli government continues its airstrikes over the enclosed Gaza territory and has ordered the complete stop of water, electricity and food to the roughly 2.3 million people who live in the impoverished block. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency estimates displacements across the Gaza Strip have "escalated" in the past 24 hours, affecting more than 187,500 people. Meanwhile, Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government in 1997 — says it's holding some 150 Israeli hostages, and the death toll from the swift and shocking violence has passed 1,500, according to Israeli and Palestinian health services. Follow live updates from the Israel-Hamas conflict.
3. Peppy report
Pepsi kicked off a new earnings season on Tuesday. The beverage giant beat analysts' expectations and raised its outlook for its full-year earnings. It's the first of the September-quarter reports to drop after a summer of spending for many Americans. Delta Air Lines and Walgreens Boots Alliance report their quarterly earnings on Thursday morning, followed by major banks JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup on Friday morning.
4. Rinse and re-Peltz
Nelson Peltz could be about to reignite his proxy battle with Disney. The activist investor's firm, Trian Fund Management, increased its stake in the entertainment giant to about 30 million shares, CNBC's Alex Sherman and Lillian Rizzo report. The purchase puts Trian's stake at about $2.5 billion in all and makes the firm one of Disney's largest shareholders. It comes exactly eight months after Peltz dropped an earlier proxy fight, in which he pushed for a seat on Disney's board and advocated for operational changes and cost reductions. This time around, Trian plans to push for multiple board seats, including one for Peltz.
5. Oh, Canada
General Motors has a new headache on its hands, with Canadian autoworkers joining their American brethren in striking against the automaker. The Unifor union, which represents about 18,000 Canadian workers at the Detroit automakers, and GM had until midnight overnight to secure a new labor deal. The failure to do so means another 4,300 auto workers on strike for GM. The new strikes in the province of Ontario affect the production of some Chevrolet Silverado trucks as well as engines used in Chevrolet Equinox models, among others.
– CNBC's Hakyung Kim, Natasha Turak, Ruxandra Iordache, Amelia Lucas, Alex Sherman, Lillian Rizzo and Michael Wayland contributed to this report.
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