Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on April 26, 2023 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stocks were down Tuesday as traders assessed some disappointing retail results and looked ahead to the release of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 85 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%.
Lowe’s declined more than 2% after reducing its full-year sales outlook. Best Buy dropped 2.5% following a reduced full-year outlook and revenue miss. Clothing retailer American Eagle tumbled nearly 16% after weaker-than-expected operating income guidance for the full year.
The minutes from the Fed’s Oct. 31-Nov.1 meeting are slated for release at 2 p.m. ET.
Traders are hoping to glean some insight into policymakers’ rate decision after the central bank left its benchmark rate at 5.25%-5.5%, and learn what it might take for them to change tack going forward. Fed funds futures pricing suggests near unanimity that the Federal Open Market Committee will hold steady at its upcoming December meeting.
“We think that [rates] could end up staying elevated longer than the market is expecting,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “Since 1990, when the Fed started telegraphing the fed funds rate, the average has been [around] 11 months from the last rate hike to the first cut.”
The latest housing data pointed to another difficult month for prospective home buyers. Existing home sales in October came in at 3.79 million units, versus estimates of 3.9 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. This marked the slowest sales pace since August 2010, and a 14.6% fall from the prior year.
Traders will also turn to earnings from Nvidia and HP. Nvidia shares hit an all-time high on Monday, but dipped 1.4% on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, e-commerce giant Amazon shed 2.7% after CNBC’s David Faber reported citing sources that former CEO Jeff Bezos may be selling more shares, after offloading1.67 million shares last week.
Wall Street is coming off a strong session, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting their fifth straight day of gains. Tech shares outperformed, leading the major averages higher.
Correction: Existing home sales came in at their lowest level since August 2010. A previous version misstated the year.