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Last updated November 3, 2009: 7:45 AM ET --- U.S. stock futures are trading lower Tuesday following weaker European markets and a rate hike from Australia helping to set the stage for a potentially bumpy session and increasing concern over the economic recovery. Economic reports due out include the Federal Open Market Committee beginning a two-day meeting with data due out at 10 AM ET on U.S. factory orders for September. Automakers will be reporting October sales throughout the day, with estimates that 10 million units were sold in the U.S. The Reserve Bank of Australia lifted interest rates for the second time in two months to 3.5%, inline with economists expectations, which added to concerns for the global markets. In corporate news, Lloyds Bank Group (NYSE:LYG) said it would raised $34 billion to avoid a British government asset protection plan and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS) will stay in the plan on altered terms. UBS (NYSE:UBS) reported a Q3 loss of over $500 million due to a variety of charges, with wealthy clients continuing to pull assets out of the Swiss bank. Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) announced Tuesday morning that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining 74.4% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE:BNI) for $100 per share in a cash and stock deal. The transaction is valued at approximately $44 billion, which includes $10 billion of outstanding BNSF debt, which makes the acquisition Berkshire's largest ever. Earnings after the close include Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT), Viacom (NYSE:VIA), and MasterCard (NYSE:MA). The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are trading 55.00 points lower, the S&P500 futures are down 7.50 points, and the Nasdaq Composite futures are down 6.25 points.

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