Stocks Ended Near Day’s Lows

U.S. stocks ended near session lows on Tuesday as Wall Street offered muted reaction to the day’s economic data and took a break after the past months’ rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43.90 points, or 0.33%, to 13,197.73. The S&P 500 fell 3.99 points, or 0.28%, to 1,412.52. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.22 points, or 0.07%, to 3,120.35.

Americans were more worried about inflation in March than at any time in the last 10 months and consumer confidence waned in the wake of higher gasoline prices. A report from industry group The Conference Board showed the index of consumer attitudes slipped to 70.2 from an upwardly revised 71.6 the month before, roughly in line with economists’ forecasts for 70.3. But expectations for inflation in the coming year jumped to the highest level since May 2011 at 6.3 percent from 5.5 percent.

The central bank’s decision to provide dollar swap lines to Europe was made in the United States’ best interests and not solely to benefit Europe, a top Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday.

Apple Inc, Sony Corp and four other companies were sued by Graphics Properties Holdings Inc, formerly known as Silicon Graphics Inc, for allegedly infringing a patent through their sale of mobile phones and other electronic devices. The lawsuits against Apple, Japan-based Sony,

Taiwan-based HTC Corp, South Korea-based LG Electronics Inc and Samsung Electronics Co were filed in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) and Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD.N) will more than double capacity of the Seaway Pipeline and expand another line from Illinois to ship more crude oil out of the glutted U.S. Midwest.