US open: Stocks head south following weaker-than-expected retail sales data

Wall Street stocks were sharply lower early on Tuesday as market participants digested a weaker-than-expected print for July's key retail sales report.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.59% at 35,415.13, while the S&P 500 was 0.55% weaker at 4,454.86 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.95% softer at 14,653.85.

The Dow opened 210.27 points lower on Tuesday, reversing gains recorded in the previous session and knocking the blue-chip index off its record high.

Tuesday's primary focus was set to be the closely watched retail sales data from the Census Bureau, with the report revealing Americans tightened their purse strings unexpectedly last month, with US retail sales volumes dropping at a month-on-month pace of 1.1% in July to $617.7bn - well below the 0.2% dip that most forecasters had pencilled-in.

Elsewhere on the macro front, US industrial production accelerated sharply last month, led by gains in manufacturing of motor vehicles, business equipment and defence and space equipment. According to the Department of Commerce, total output jumped at a month-on-month clip of 0.9% in July, while manufacturing output was especially strong, more than doubling economists' forecasts with a rise of 1.4%.

Still on data, business inventories rose 0.8% in June, bang in line with estimates, while May's print of 0.05% was upwardly revised to 0.06%, while the NAHB's housing market index fell to its lowest reading in 13 months in August, declining five points to a reading of 75.

In the corporate space, retailer Home Depot posted quarterly profit and revenue beats on Tuesday but also stated that fewer customers had visited its brick and mortar locations during the period than they had a year earlier amid a decline in lockdown-fuelled DIY activity, while Walmart reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street's expectations after gaining ground in its grocery business and making a strong start in back-to-school sales.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will also deliver a speech at 1830 BST, while Minneapolis president Neel Kashkari was expected to speak at 2045 BST.