U.S. Stocks Turning In Mixed Performance In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Tuesday with investors largely staying cautious amid fears of a recession as tighter monetary conditions loom large.

Data showing U.S. business activity dropping for a second straight month and at the fastest pace as well since May 2020 is hurting sentiment.

Investors are looking ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week for clues about the bank's outlook for the economy and interest rates.

Among the major averages, the Dow and the S&P 500 are down in negative territory, while the tech-laden Nasdaq is modestly higher with stocks finding some support after recent losses.

The Dow is down 107.07 points or 0.32 percent 32,956.54, after having climbed to 33,138.26 earlier in the session.

The S&P 500 is down 1.94 points or 0.05 percent at 4,136.05, while the Nasdaq is up 28.79 points or 0.23 percent 12,410.36.

Data from Markit Economics showed the S&P Global US Composite PMI came in with a score of 45 for August, down from a reading of 47.7 in July.

The Manufacturing PMI fell to 51.3 in August from 52.2 a month earlier, while the Services PMI dropped to 44.1 in the month from 47.3 in July.

Data from the Commerce Department showed new home sales in the U.S. dropped 12.6% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted 511,000 in July, the lowest reading since January 2016.

According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, the Richmond Fed composite manufacturing index fell to -8 in August from 0 in the previous month.

Meanwhile, Redbook Research Inc. said that the Redbook index increased by 13.5 percent in the week ending August 20, 2022 over the same week in the previous year.

Shares of Zoom Video are down nearly 16 percent after the company lowered its full-year forecast.

Twitter shares are down sharply, weighed down by news about filing of complaints against the company at the Securities Exchange Commission.

P&G, Home Depot, United Health, Merck, Amgen and Verizon are down 1 to 2 percent.

Caterpillar is gaining nearly 3 percent. Chevron is surging 2.7 percent, while Boeing, Nike, Intel and 3M are up with modest gains.