European shares fell in late morning trading there amid worries about the stability of major financial firms. Stocks in Asia fell overnight, finding little relief in upbeat manufacturing data from the day before that helped lift U.S. markets.

Safe-haven investments like the dollar and Treasurys rose. Most commodities fell.

Investors around the globe have been jittery in recent weeks, wary of whether the economic recovery can maintain the same pace once government stimulus measures are removed. That uncertainty has led to wild swings in the market. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen or fallen more than 100 points in six of the last eight trading days.

On Tuesday, investors will get data on factory orders, as well as sales reports from major automakers. But even if the reports are positive, trading could be volatile. Stocks vacillated between gains and losses Monday after a stronger-than-expected reading on manufacturing activity and a surprise profit from Ford Motor Co. All the major indexes ended up with gains of less than 1 percent.

Also Tuesday, the Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting on interest rates. Though the central bank isn't expected to take any action on interest rates just yet, investors will be watching for what the Fed has to say about the state of the economy when it issues a statement Wednesday at the conclusion of the meeting. The Fed's benchmark interest rate currently stands at a record low of near zero.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 90, or 0.9 percent, to 9,645. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 10.90, or 1.1 percent, to 1,028.20, and Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 16.50, or 1.0 percent, to 1,652.50.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 2.2 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.8 percent, and France's CAC-40 was down 2.2 percent. Earlier Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.8 percent. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

Bond prices rose in early trading. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.38 percent from 3.42 percent late Monday.

The market is expecting factory orders to have risen in September after a decline in August. Analysts are looking for an increase of 0.8 percent, on average. The Commerce Department is scheduled to release the report at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

In other trading, the dollar rose against other major currencies.

Gold prices added about $3 to $1,057, while light, sweet crude fell 91 cents to $77.22 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.