Investing.com - The Dow rebounded from early losses but ended lower Tuesday as stronger consumer confidence data countered a slide in Home Depot .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13% to 26,057.98, after bouncing from a session low of 25,966.01. The S&P 500 lost 0.08%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.07%.
Dow component Home Depot (NYSE:HD) fell 0.9%, dragging consumer discretionary stocks lower after reporting results that missed on the top and bottom lines.
The soft report from the home improvement retailer arrived on the heels of data showing housing starts fell to their lowest level since September 2016 ahead of the key spring selling season. Rival Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) reports fourth-quarter results on Wednesday.
There were some bright spots for consumer discretionary names as Macy’s (NYSE:M) and AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) closed higher on the back of results that topped estimates compiled by Investing.com.
Sentiment on stocks was also boosted by better-than-expected consumer confidence data, which eased some concerns that consumer strength was on the wane in the wake of dour U.S. retail sales reported earlier this month.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge rose to 131.4 in February, from 121.7 last month, beating economists’ forecast for a reading of 124.7.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's somewhat dovish testimony before the Senate Banking Committee reaffirmed investor expectations the central bank is likely to continue to pause on future interest rate hikes.
Powell delivered a upbeat assessment of the economy and said the central bank was prepared to adjust its runoff of the balance sheet as necessary.
In other corporate news, Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) fell 2.4% after Swiss bank UBS doubled downgraded the company from a buy to sell, citing worries over slowing global construction growth.
"We expect 2020 earnings per share to decline about 8% year-on-year, as continued growth in mining and buybacks will not be enough to offset headwinds in construction and oil and gas, in our view," UBS said.
"We do not believe an earnings decline in priced in to the stock. We expect downward earnings revisions to pressure the stock over the next 12 months."
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), meanwhile, pared some losses to end the day above its lows after the Security and Exchange Commission asked a Federal Judge to hold CEO Elon Musk in contempt for breaching a settlement deal reached last year. Tesla fell 0.30% to $297.86, above session lows of $288.77.
Elon Musk has until March 11 to make his case why he should not be held in contempt.
In post-close market earnings news, Weight Watchers International (NASDAQ:WTW) posted a miss on the top and bottom lines. The company also warned of lower revenue and earnings for the year, on expectations that member recruitment for 2019 would be lower than 2018 levels amid a soft start to its winter campaign.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), JM Smucker (NYSE:SJM) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
ONEOK (NYSE:OKE), Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.