Wall Street opens slightly lower pressured by mixed earnings reports

• Healthcare shares rise in early trade boosted by upbeat earnings from Merck and Pfizer.
• Communication Services Index slides on disappointing Alphabet revenue figures.

Wall Street's main indexes started the day on a mixed note on Tuesday as investors continue to react to earnings figures from large US corporations. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.05% on the day, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 3,039 points and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.21%.

Dow Jones pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Merck both reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings figures to help the Healthcare Index, which was last up 0.6% to lead the winners, gain traction in the early trade.

On the other hand, disappointing revenue numbers from Google Alphabet, $40.5 billion vs. $40.32 billion expected, weigh on the Communication Services Index and force it to erase around 1%.