Stocks Slip in Choppy Session

U.S. stocks finished a choppy trading session lower on Tuesday after mixed news on the economy. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average fell 27.48 points, or 0.17%, at 16,179.66. The S&P 500 was down 2.49 points, or 0.13%, at
1,845.12. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.38 points, or 0.13%, to 4,287.59.

Home prices posted their largest annual gain last year since 2005. U.S. prices increased 11.3% in the fourth
quarter compared to a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller price index released Tuesday. An
subindex that measures home prices in 20 major metro areas rose 13.4% over the same span.

The U.S. consumer confidence index fell to 78.1 in February, versus 80 estimate, from a downwardly revised
79.4. in January, the Conference Board said Tuesday.

U.S. financial regulators plan to release on March 20 the results of annual stress tests, which weigh banks’
ability to withstand an economic crisis, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday.

Home Depot’s profits were higher than expected, at 73 cents a share, while analysts surveyed by Thomson
Reuters were expecting earnings of 71 cents a share. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.4 percent
over the same period last year.

General Motors Co. will now recall a total of 1.36 million vehicles for possible ignition switch problems
after mounting consumer criticism pushed the company to expand an earlier recall to include models that had
similar problems.