Tuesday's Stock Market Close: US Equities Mixed On Disappointing Retail Earnings, Offsetting Strong Housing Data

U.S. stock indexes finished mixed on Tuesday, as disappointing earnings at some major retailers and lack of any new developments in China trade talks offset strong housing-homebuilding data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 102.37 points to 27,933.85 while the S&P 500 lost 1.88 points to 3,120.15 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 20.72 points to 8,570.66.

U.S. housing starts rose 3.8% in October to a 1.31 million annualized rate. Homebuilding permits climbed 5% to a 1.46 million, the highest level since May 2007.

Home Depot (HD) dropped 5.4% as it posted a 3% decline in third-quarter earnings and also reduced guidance for its full-year sales.

Kohl’s (KSS) plunged 19.5% after its third-quarter results fell below expectations and the company cut its earnings outlook for the full-year.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 2.96 billion shares with 1,451 issues advancing, 121 setting new highs, and 1,505 declining, with 97 setting new lows.

Active movers were led by Myovant Sciences (MYOV), Athenex (ATNX), Karuna Therapeutics (KRTX), Cabaletta (CABA) and Fulcrum Therapeutics (FULC)

At a hearing on private equity funds on Tuesday in Washington, Rep. Maxine Waters, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, criticized the industry.

“While there are some examples of private equity firms playing a beneficial role in the U.S. economy, there are far too many examples of private equity firms destroying companies, and preying on hardworking Americans to maximize their profits,” she said. “We are going to take a hard look at those practices and examine whether Congress should take action to prevent the predatory practices of some private equity firms and hedge funds.”

Waters further noted that private equity firms “increasingly hold ownership of our hospitals, nursing homes and emergency services,” adding the private equity firms the committee “invited to testify at this hearing today declined to send representatives to engage and answer questions about their activities.”

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said at a meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association that the economy is facing some headwinds from overseas. “From the domestic point of view, things are strong and continue to be strong, but we’re dealing with various global factors we’re trying to navigate,” he said, citing slower global growth, among other factors.

“Growth is starting to slow in the U.S.,” Williams added.

Overnight, Asian markets finished mixed. The Hang Seng of Hong Kong jumped 1.55%, the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.85% while The Nikkei 225 shed 0.53%

European markets were mixed with the FTSE 100 up 0.22% while Germany's DAX rose 0.11% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.35%.

Crude oil futures were down 1.8% to $55.25 per barrel and Brent edged down 0.03% to $60.93. Gold futures were down 0.05%.

The euro was up 0.07% to $1.1079 while the pound sterling slipped 0.22% to $1.2925.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 1.22% to 1.786% while yield on the 30-year note slipped 1.66% to 2.25%.