US open: Dow and S&P retreat amid strong dollar, housing data and mixed earnings

US stocks pulled slightly back early on Tuesday, as mixed earnings reports met a dollar surging on the back of better-than-expected housing data.

Just after 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 14.5 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both lost just over two points.

US housing starts rocketed by 20.2% month-on-month in to reach an annualised rate of 1.14m in April, according to the US Department of Commerce.

The increase was the largest one-month gain for the series since 1991 and dwarfed economists' expectations of a rise of 9.6% over the month.

Meanwhile, building permits rose to 1.14m from 1.04m last month, beating the consensus forecast of a 1.02m reading and leading to predictions of solid starts and construction data in the months ahead.

"After the weather-related weakness in starts during the first quarter we think the April data are consistent with housing activity returning to normal," analysts at Barclays said in a note.

An hour after the open, the greenback was up 0.87% against the pound, while gold futures fell 1.05% to $1,214.70.

Mixed earnings on Wall Streets

Ahead of the opening bell, Wal-Mart reported sales that fell of short of Wall Street's estimates, dragging shares down 2.85%.

In other company news, video-game maker Take-Two Interactive Software jumped 14.3%, despite saying on Monday that its fourth-quarter loss widened and issued a weak outlook that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Measurement group Agilent Technologies fell 3.8% after reporting a decline in second quarter earnings and revenue on Monday.

Home-improvement retailer Home Depot edged 0.4% higher after reporting a rise in first quarter earnings and sales ahead of the bell.

The group lifted its full-year guidance for 2015 and confirmed it will repurchase another $3.4bn in shares within the end of the year.

European stocks rally, euro tumbles

Elsewhere, European stocks surged forward on Tuesday, after Benoît Coeuré, a member of the European Central Bank executive board said that the bank will increase its purchases of euro-zone assets in May in June ahead of expected low liquidity during the summer months.

Asian shares ended higher, building on Wall Street's gains late on Monday, while the dollar rallied over 1.5% against the euro.

Oil prices plunged, with West Texas Intermediate losing 1.88% to $59.13 a barrel, while Brent shed 1.74% to $65.14 a barrel.