(RTTNews) -  Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, although the Dow managed to end the session modestly higher. The losses posted by the broader Nasdaq and S&P 500 were partly due to the release of some disappointing data on consumer confidence. The Dow ended the session up about 14 points after falling by more than 100 points in each of the two previous sessions.

Some selling pressure was generated by news that consumer confidence unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of October, with the Conference Board's consumer confidence index showing a notable decline amid continued concerns about labor market conditions.

The consumer confidence index fell to 47.7 in October from a revised 53.4 in September, falling well short of the 53.5 expected by economists. The reading was also notably lower than the 53.1 originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, a report from Standard and Poor's showed a continued decrease in home prices in the month of August, although the pace of the annual rate of decline slowed by even more than economists had been expecting.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index fell at an annual rate of 11.3 percent in August compared to a 13.3 percent decrease in July. Economists had been expecting the report to show an 11.9 percent drop in prices.
On the earnings front today, the number of first tier firms reporting quarterly results today was subdued, with Valero Energy (VLO), U.S. Steel (X) and Honda Motor Co. (HMC) releasing a mixed batch of reports along with a slew of others.

In other news, the Senate is expected to take the first step this week to extend unemployment insurance benefits to thousands of out-of-work Americans.

Unemployment benefits, which were initially extended under the $787 economic stimulus and recovery bill, are in danger of expiring by the end of the year and some have estimated that approximately 7,000 Americans are losing their benefits each day.

The bill would extend benefits for another 14 weeks across the country, with an additional six weeks of coverage in the states with the highest unemployment rates.

The major averages all saw choppy trading going into the close, remaining stuck on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Dow rose by 14.21 points or 0.1 percent to 9,882.17, the S&P 500 fell by 3.54 points or 0.3 percent to 1,063.41 and the Nasdaq dropped by 25.76 points or 1.2 percent to 2,116.09.

 1   2   3   Next Page