The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,057.98 on Tuesday with a loss of 33.97 points or -0.13%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,793.90 for a loss of 2.21 points or -0.08%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,549.30 for a loss of 5.16 points or -0.07%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 15.17 for a gain of 0.32 points or 2.15%.
Tuesday’s market movers
Stocks closed lower on Tuesday after a two-day rally fueled by China trade negotiation progress. Home Depot (HD, Financial) and the housing market were top detractors for the day. In the housing market, statistics showed housing construction and housing prices decreasing. On the earnings calendar, Home Depot reported fourth-quarter results and declared a $1.36 dividend. The home improvement retailer beat fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share estimates by 9 cents at $2.25. Revenue missed estimates by $90 million at $26.49 billion and raised some concerns of retail market contraction. For the day, the stock was down 0.88%.
Investors were also watching Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and pharmaceutical executives speaking in front of the Senate Banking Committee and Senate Finance Committee respectively. This week’s Congressional schedule also includes a House Oversight Committee testimony on Wednesday from Michael Cohen.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Housing starts decreased 11.2% in December.
- Building permits increased 0.3% in December after a 4.5% increase in November.
- The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index decreased 0.2% in December and reported an annual increase of 4.2%.
- The House Price Index increased 0.3% in December.
- The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index increased to 131.4 in February from 121.7.
- The Treasury held auctions for 52-week bills at a rate of 2.470% and seven-year notes at a rate of 2.538%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -2.50%
- Home Depot (HD, Financial) -0.88%
- United Technologies (UTX, Financial) -0.84%
- JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) -0.76%
- UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial) -0.61%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,577.48 for a loss of 11.32 points or -0.71%. The S&P 600 closed at 975.84 for a loss of 8.69 points or -0.88%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,940.12 for a loss of 81.39 points or -0.81%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,789.93 for a loss of 60.27 points or -0.61%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,916.18 for a loss of 16.94 points or -0.88%; the S&P 100 at 1,228.50 for a gain of 0.12 points or 0.01; the Russell 3000 at 1,653.74 for a loss of 2.70 points or -0.16%; the Russell 1000 at 1,550.15 for a loss of 1.85 points or -0.12%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,970.37 for a loss of 50.94 points or -0.18%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 698.83 for a loss of 1.89 points or -0.27%.
