Stocks fail to find a footing

Mixed housing starts reading, weak Best Buy results weigh on the the market, despite drop in crude prices.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks failed to find their footing Tuesday morning after a mixed reading on housing starts and disappointing corporate results - despite a dip in the price of oil.

The Dow Jones industrial average straddled the breakeven line nearly 90 minutes into the session. The broader S&P 500 index edged lower while the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index lost about 0.2 percent.

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In the latest from the battered real estate sector, the Commerce Department reported that housing starts fell to an annual rate of 1.47 million in May, down from 1.53 million in April - a hair below economists' estimates, according to a survey by Briefing.com.

One bright spot in the report was applications for building permits. A key sign of builder confidence, permits came in at an annual rate of 1.5 million, up from 1.46 million last month and beating the projected 1.47 million.

Even though the housing market's woes look like they'll drag on longer than many economists had initially expected, the drag on the economy so far doesn't appear that severe.

"I guess the main question is what impact is the housing market having on the overall economy and it doesn't appear to be very much," said Richard Hoyt, a market strategist for the Minneapolis-based KDV Wealth Management.

Bond prices rose, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down to 5.11 percent from 5.14 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices ticked lower after hitting a nine-month high on Monday. U.S. light crude oil for July delivery sank 29 cents to $68.80, after climbing more than a dollar the previous session to the highest since September.

In earnings news, electronics retailer Best Buy (down $2.31 to $45.70, Charts, Fortune 500) reported lower quarterly profit that missed Wall Street estimates, sending shares sliding about 4.7 percent in morning trade.

Elsewhere on the corporate front, Yahoo (down $0.28 to $27.84, Charts, Fortune 500) announced late Monday that Terry Semel would step down as CEO, to be replaced by company co-founder Jerry Yang. The stock was little changed in early trading.

Expedia (up $3.88 to $29.38, Charts) stock jumped about 15 percent Tuesday after the online travel company announced a $3.5 billion buyback of more than a third of its shares.

The Food and Drug Administration granted priority review for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s (up $1.29 to $31.60, Charts, Fortune 500) experimental breast cancer drug ixabepilone, the company said Tuesday, pushing up its shares 3.7 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The home repair retailer Home Depot (up $0.26 to $38.22, Charts, Fortune 500) is close to announcing a deal to sell its supply division for more than $10 billion to a group of private equity firms, Reuters reported.

Overseas, mining group BHP Billiton (up $0.10 to $58.70, Charts) reportedly is considering a rival bid for aluminum producer Alcan (down $0.16 to $83.39, Charts). Dow component Alcoa (down $0.07 to $41.82, Charts, Fortune 500) has made a $28.7 billion hostile offer for Alcan.

European markets edged lower in midday trading. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei index finished slightly higher.

In currency trading, the dollar eased against the euro, but was higher versus the yen.

COMEX gold for August delivery rose $1.10 to $661 an ounce. Top of page

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.