Wall Street Starts Holiday-Shortened Week on a Down Note

Global Shares Trade Mixed Tuesday

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks fell on Wall Street in morning trading on Tuesday to kick off a holiday-shortened week.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.6% and is coming off only its second losing week in the last 16. The benchmark index is sitting below the record high it reached last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.2%.

Markets were closed in the U.S. on Monday for Presidents Day.

Technology stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Chipmaker Nvidia slumped 5% and Microsoft fell 1%.

Big retailers reported mixed earnings. Walmart rose 5.4% after reporting stronger-than-expected results for its latest quarter and issuing sales forecasts that came in ahead of what Wall Street was expecting.

Home improvement retailer Home Depot fell 1.2% after giving investors disappointing profit forecast for the year.

Outside of earnings, credit card company Capital One Financial slipped 1% as it moves ahead with a $35 billion buyout of Discover Financial Services. Discover soared 12%.

Markets are coming off of a heavy week of economic reports that hinted at stubborn inflation squeezing consumer spending. That has pushed expectations for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates further out into 2024. The central bank on Wednesday will release minutes from its latest meeting, potentially giving investors more insight into its next move.

Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.26% from 4.28% late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 4.58% from 4.65%.

Markets in Europe were mixed and markets in Asia were mostly higher.

China's central bank kept its 1-year loan prime rate unchanged on Tuesday but cut its 5-year rate by 25 basis points to 3.95%. That came as a surprise, the first time the five-year rate was cut since May 2023.