Before the bell: Stocks poised for a soft open

U.S. stocks were set to open toward the down side Tuesday after China's central bank raised key rates for the third time since October.
The People's Bank of China announced Tuesday that it would raise bank's borrowing and lending rates by a quarter percentage point. The rate change will go into effect Wednesday. The move comes as Chinese policymakers look to gradually cool the nation's robust economy, and avoid a hard landing.
Stocks in Europe turned mixed, and oil prices fell after the announcement.

The deals of the day included AOL's (AOL) acquisition of news blog The Huffington Post for $315 million, and a merger between oil drillers Ensco (ESV) and Pride International (PDE).
Companies: Toyota issued an upbeat financial forecast with three months left in the fiscal year, but the automaker said sales were sluggish in the third quarter.
Toyota (TM) said net income fell to $1.1 billion from $1.87 billion, a 38.9% drop compared to the third quarter of last year.
Shares of Avon (AVP, Fortune 500) fell 3% in premarket trading after the beauty products company said fourth-quarter earnings fell to 50 cents per share from 62 cents a year earlier.
Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) were higher following analyst upgrades.