Brazil stocks opened lower on Tuesday, extending their streak of declines to four consecutive sessions, as concerns over global economic strength overshadowed upcoming data expected to signal U.S. recovery. Signs the U.S. economy, the world’s biggest, is slowly picking up should help reassure investors that the worst of the nation’s economic recession is behind. The Institute for Supply Management’s August survey will probably say on Tuesday that industrial production expanded for the first time since after the recession began. However, Brazilian investors remain uneasy over what they see as insufficient evidence behind the 56 percent surge in the Bovespa from its March low for 2009, said Tommy Taterka, a stock trader with Sao Paulo-based broker house Concordia Corretora. "The motto is ‘take profits now’ because the sentiment globally is that the rally we underwent since March was clearly overdone," Taterka said.

In other news, shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) rose 2 percent to $22.59 in premarket trading on Tuesday after the New York Times reported that the company had reached a deal to sell its Skype unit to a group of private investors, according to Reuters.

Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire hedge-fund manager who outperformed peers last year, is wagering that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley got it wrong in declaring the start of an economic recovery.

“If we have a recovery at all, it isn’t sustainable,” Kevin Harrington, managing director at Clarium, said in an interview at the firm’s New York offices. “This is more likely a ski-jump recession, with short-term stimulus creating a bump that will ultimately lead to a more precipitous decline later.” –Bloomberg

Automakers are set to report August sales later today, with many of them poised to post strong results thanks to the government’s Cash for Clunkers program. Cash for Clunkers, which ended on Aug. 24, drew hordes of buyers into previously empty showrooms, providing a much-needed lift in business. It spurred 690,114 new sales, many of them during August, at a taxpayer cost of $2.88 billion, according to the Department of Transportation. The biggest beneficiaries of the program were Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which accounted for 41 percent of the new vehicle sales. That outpaced Detroit automakers General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) and Chrysler Group LLC, which had a share of nearly 39 percent. Toyota led the industry with 19.4 percent of new sales, followed by GM with 17.6 percent and Ford with 14.4 percent. –Associated Press

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) is seeking to pay back part of the bailout money it has received during the financial crisis as the bank tries to roll back government involvement in its dealings, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

-Jutia Group