WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session on Tuesday, with the major averages spending the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the weakness seen during the previous session.
The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. The Dow fell 131.59 points or 0.3 percent to 51,349.92, the Nasdaq edged down 22.84 points or 0.1 percent to 26,797.54 and the S&P 500 dipped 12.85 points or 0.2 percent to 6,760.84.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Wednesday.
The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting late next month.
Ahead of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating the chances the Fed will raise rates by another quarter point or leave rates unchanged are roughly 50-50.
Traders also kept an eye on the price of crude oil, which has seen considerable volatility over the course of the day.
After surging by as much as 2.3 percent earlier in the day, U.S. crude oil futures are currently plunging by 3.7 percent.
Despite the pullback by the price of crude oil, treasury yields turned higher over the course of the session, extending a recent upward trend.
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Conference Board unexpectedly showed a notable deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of September.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slumped to 81.9 in September from a downwardly revised 88.6 in August.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to inch up to 90.0 from 89.4 originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster close by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.
However, oil service stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.4 percent to its lowest closing level in two months.
Notable weakness was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.
On the other hand, semiconductor stocks showed a strong move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 1.3 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index declined by 0.6 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both fell by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries turned lower over the course of the session after an early rebound. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 1.6 basis points to 5.260 percent.
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