By Anora Mahmudova and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks drifted lower on Tuesday
as weaker-than-expected housing data weighed on investor sentiment.
Investors will have more economic data to digest as manufacturing
and consumer confidence reports also are set to be released.
It's been a bumpy ride for stocks. Tuesday marks the end of the
month and the third quarter, where the S&P 500 has seen a drop
of 1.4% in September, while managing to eke out a slight gain of
0.7% for the quarter. Why you should ignore October crash
warnings
In Thursday's trading action. the S&P 500 (SPX) was flat at
1,977.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 8 points to
17,080. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) was flat at 4,505.67
All gravy up to week's end: Home price data came in weaker than
expected. Annual home price growth slowed down in July to the
slowest pace since late 2012, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller
home-price index. Also coming, Chicago PMI data, due at 9:45 and
consumer confidence for September due at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Federal Reserve Gov. Jerome Powell is slated to speak on a panel
on 'Government debt management at the zero lower bound' at the
Brookings Institution at 10:45 a.m. Eastern.
Earlier markets got a lift after data showed eurozone inflation
hit a five-year low in September, and disappointing German jobless
data, both which arguably could add pressure for the European
Central Bank to do the market's bidding and launch full-scale
quantitative easing soon. The ECB meets on Thursday, but economists
widely expect the bank to keep more aggressive policy measures on
hold for now and instead provide details on its program for
purchasing asset-backed securities, which was announced at the
September meeting.
The Thursday ECB meeting will be one of the more closely watched
for markets. The other major event on deck is Friday's nonfarm
payrolls, where markets want to see strong, but not overly strong,
jobs growth.
Stocks to watch: Move (MOVE) leapt 37% after News Corp. (NWSA)
(NWS) said it would buy the online real-estate business in an
all-cash deal for $21 a share. News Corp. owns MarketWatch, the
publisher of this report.
EBay (EBAY) shares leapt 7.7% after the firm announced plans to
spin off PayPal in a transaction expected to be completed in the
second half of 2015.
Ford (F) shares were under pressure after cutting its full-year
earnings outlook on expectations it will lose $1.2 billion in
Europe this year.
Walgreen(WAG) shares were slightly off after the drug-store
chain reported quarterly profit and sales that matched expectations
on Tuesday.
Supervalu (SVU) shares fell 1.8% after itit found more
data-capturing malware at stores on Monday.
Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (CPRX) is up 16% after the
biotech said late Monday a late-stage study showed its Firdapse
treatment benefited sufferers of an autoimmune disorder that causes
muscle weakness. Read more about the day's notable stocks in Movers
& Shakers.
Other markets: Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.3% as
pro-democracy protests continued, though many worried about a
possible crackdown. Europe stocks pushed higher on the heels of
downbeat data. The euro (EURUSD) pushed lower against the dollar
after eurozone inflation data.
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