Stocks look set to slide Tuesday morning as traders give back some of yesterday’s strong rally. Negative corporate news is setting the tone. Notably, luxury retailer Tiffanys & Co. lowered its profit forecast due to weak holiday spending. Giant U.S. electronics retailer, Circuit City Stores, also reported weak holiday sales.

There is no real economic news out yet, but markets are anticipating the formal details of a widely-reported U.S. fiscal stimulus plan being revealed today.

Oil prices are down a bit on talk that OPEC will boost production to make up for some of the shortfall due to ongoing political turmoil in Venezuela.

In Europe, stocks are down today. First, European consumer confidence was reported at a five-year low on the heels of job losses. Also, Volkswagen AG said that its sales may be flat this year. And, Dutch retailer, Royal Ahold NV, said it had weak U.S. sales too.

The FTSE is down 35 points to 3,966. The CAC 40 has dropped 30 points to 3,180. And, the DAX is 53 points lower at 3,104.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were weaker, too. The Nikkei dropped 57 points to 8,657. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng shed 14 points to 9,652.

In M&A news, Konica Corp. is set to buy rival photographic firm Minolta Co. for about US$1.6 billion. It will cut 4,000 jobs as part of the acquisition.