US close: Dow Jones extends losses

dl nyse new york stock exchange wall st street city finance dow jones nasdaq sp finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america 2 — New York Stock ExchangeSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday after the blue-chip Dow Jones closed at its lowest level in more than two years in the previous session.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.43% at 29,134.99, while the S&P 500 was 0.21% weaker at 3,647.29 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.25% stronger at 10,829.50.

The Dow closed 125.82 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session amid a surging dollar and heightened bond yields.

The greenback was in focus yet again on Tuesday as the British pound bounced back more than 1% in early trading to sit at $1.083 just 24 hours after hitting a record low against the USD as investors looked for further clarity regarding UK monetary policy amid calls for aggressive rate hikes in order to stabilise the pound.

Oil prices were slightly higher on Tuesday after tumbling to their lowest level since January in the previous session, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures up more than 1% at over $78 per barrel.

Comments from Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester also drew an amount of investor attention, with the central banker saying inflation was "unacceptably high" and that uncertainties had made monetary policy decisions "not trivial".

"When there is uncertainty, it can be better for policymakers to act more aggressively," she said. "Aggressive and pre-emptive action can prevent the worst-case outcomes from actually coming about." Mester added that she would be "very cautious" when assessing inflation data.

On the macro front, new orders for manufactured durable goods slipped 0.2% month-on-month in August, according to the Census Bureau, following a revised 0.1% drop in July and better than estimates for a larger fall of 0.4%.

Elsewhere, US house price growth eased in July, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic/Case-Shiller national home price index. The national home price index, which covers all nine US census divisions, rose 15.8% on the year, down from 18.1% a month earlier. This marked the slowest pace of growth since April 2021.

Still on data, new home sales in the soared 28.8% month-on-month in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000, according to the Census Bureau, the biggest increase since June 2020, the highest level in five months, and above market expectations for a reading of 500,000.

Finally, the Conference Board's September consumer confidence index increased to 103.2 in August, according to the Conference Board, up from 95.3 in July and following three straight monthly declines.

In the corporate space, Cracker Barrel shares rose in early trading after the restaurant and retailer posted a quarterly profit beat and issued some upbeat revenue guidance, while Blackberry shares slipped in extended trading after the group reported a drop in Q2 cybersecurity revenues.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $148.90 1.76%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $43.85 0.92%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $268.69 0.79%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $151.76 0.66%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $151.18 0.42%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $96.29 0.24%
Boeing Co. (BA) $127.51 0.13%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $141.02 0.04%
American Express Co. (AXP) $137.57 0.03%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $508.74 0.00%