WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has shown a significant move to the downside, although the Dow is bucking the downtrend.
Currently, the Nasdaq is just off its lows of the session, down 238.62 points or 1.1 percent at 21,391.16. The S&P 500 is also down 22.67 points or 0.4 percent at 6,426.48.
The narrower Dow, on the other hand, has given back ground after reaching a new record intraday high but currently remains up 94.31 points or 0.2 percent at 45,006.13.
The modest gain by the Dow partly reflects a surge by shares of Home Depot (HD), as the home improvement retailer is jumping by 3.6 percent.
Home Depot reached a six-month intraday high earlier in the session after maintaining its full-year guidance despite reporting second quarter results that came in modestly below analyst estimates.
Meanwhile, the steep drop by the Nasdaq comes amid a weakness in the tech sector, with shares of Nvidia (NVDA) slumping by 1.9 percent.
Nvidia told CNBC it is evaluating a 'variety of products' following a Reuters report that the company is developing a new AI chip for China.
Traders are also looking ahead to some key economic events later in the week, including the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday and the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium that gets underway on Thursday.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium on Friday, with his remarks potentially impacting the outlook for interest rates.
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there is an 85.1 percent chance the Fed will lower interest rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.
Reports on weekly jobless claims, existing home sales and leading economic indicators may also attract some attention in the coming days.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning unexpectedly showing a sharp increase by new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of July.
Sector News
Gold stocks have moved sharply lower amid a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.2 percent.
Significant weakness is also visible among software stocks, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index falling by 1.7 percent to its lowest intraday level in a month.
On the other hand, housing stocks have shown a strong move to the upside following the housing starts data, resulting in a 1.9 percent jump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Transportation stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones Transportation Average.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are regaining ground after trending lower over the past few sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.1 basis points at 4.308 percent.
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