1/31/2012 4:26 PM ET
(RTTNews) - After failing to sustain an early upward move, stocks turned in a lackluster performance over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The choppy trading came as investors weighed optimism about the financial situation in Europe against a disappointing batch of U.S. economic data.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, although they were all nearly unchanged on the day. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 1.90 points or 0.1 percent to 2,813.84, the Dow fell 20.81 points 0.2 percent to 12,632.91 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.61 points or 0.1 percent to 1,312.40.
The upward move in early trading on Wall Street came as traders reacted positively to the latest news out of Europe, including comments from Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos indicating that "significant progress" has been made in reaching a debt-swap agreement with bondholders.
Papademos said that his government wants to conclude negotiations with its private sector bondholders on a debt restructuring deal by the end of this week.
The markets also benefited from news that most European Union leaders have agreed to sign a new fiscal compact designed to achieve tighter budgetary discipline.
However, a disappointing housing report released before the start of trading helped to limit the upside for the markets, with the report from Standard & Poor's showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. home prices in the month of November.
The report showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index fell by 0.7 percent in November on a seasonally adjusted basis. Economists had been expecting the index to decrease by about 0.4 percent.
Stocks subsequently pulled back off their early highs following the release of weaker than expected readings on Chicago-area business activity and consumer confidence.
The Institute for Supply Management - Chicago said its Chicago business barometer fell to 60.2 in January from 62.2 in December, although a reading above 50 indicates an expansion in regional business activity. The drop surprised economists, who had expected the index to edge up to a reading of 63.0.
Separately, the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped to 61.1 in January from a revised 64.8 in December. Economists had expected the index to increase to 68.0 from the 64.5 originally reported for the previous month.
Among individual stocks, shares of RadioShack (RSH) moved sharply lower on the day after the consumer electronics retailer forecast fourth quarter earnings well below analyst estimates. The company cited the underperformance of its Sprint postpaid wireless business.
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