Investing.com – Wall Street remained range-bound, trading flat and mixed, on Tuesday as investors waited for a speech from Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen and a rise in American consumer confidence managed to put a break on earlier losses in U.S. stock markets.
At 15:00GMT or 11:00AM ET, the Dow 30 slipped 33 points, or 0.19%, while the S&P 500 edged down 2 points, or 0.09%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite advanced 11 points, or 0.24%.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose more-than-expected in March and managed to pare losses seen at the start of trade on Wall Street, while the S&P/Case-Shiller house price index for January coming just under forecasts did little to move sentiment.
Market participants seemed reluctant to make big trades ahead of Yellen’s upcoming speech to the Economic Club of New York (ECNY) while waiting to see if the Fed chair will give clues as to the future path or rate hikes. Of note, the ECNY has the speech scheduled for 11:30ET, but the Federal Reserve web page lists it to start at 12:20ET.
Since her dovish comments at the March 16 press conference after the policy decision, several Fed officials have made more hawkish remarks.
In this light, investors will be on edge to see if the Fed chief’s message has swayed and might give hints to future policy decisions.
Apart from Yellen, SF Fed chief Williams said earlier on Tuesday that his outlook on the U.S. economy was positive and reiterated that rate hikes would be “gradual and thoughtful”.
Additionally, New York Fed chief William Dudley and Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan will speak at 16:00GMT, or 12:00ET, and 17:00GMT, or 13:00ET, respectively.
Meanwhile, oil moved lower among fears that the rebound from February’s low has run its course with Barclays (LON:BARC) analysts suggesting that the barrel of crude could return to near $30 and continuing doubts over the effectiveness of any possible agreement among major oil producers to confront the global supply glut. Iran plans on attending the April 17 meeting, though the country will not partake in any production freeze, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Concerns were also raised while waiting for inventory data which could show that U.S. stockpiles rose once again to record highs. The American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly inventory data on Tuesday at 20:35GMT, or 16:35ET, while the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration will publish its report on Wednesday at 14:30GMT, or 10:30AM ET.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 3.25% to $38.11 a barrel by 15:03GMT or 11:03AM ET, while Brent oil fell 2.79% to $39.73.
In company news, after rumors that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) could be organizing investors in a takeover bid for the troubled Internet portal, Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) reportedly set an April 11 deadline to submit preliminary bids for its web business and Asian assets, according to sources cited by the The Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. Department of Justice withdrew a criminal complaint against Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) on Monday evening after the FBI reportedly retrieved information from the phone of a terrorist responsible for the San Bernardino attacks last fall without the help of the major technology company.
In big moves on earnings, Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN). rose more than 3% after earnings beat forecasts, while McCormick (NYSE:MKC) gained over 2% after reporting a better-than-expected earnings-per-share.
Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) traded up almost 1% after it was announced that the sportswear retailer will be entering the S&P 500 after trade on Friday.
Meanwhile, SunEdison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) tanked close to 50% after the renewable power firm admitted that it faced a “substantial risk” of bankruptcy.