Stocks Slightly Lower; Home Prices Rise

U.S. stocks were slightly lower in the early trading on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. home prices rose less than expected in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 11.08 points, or 0.06%, to 17,060.14. The S&P 500 was down 1.92 points, or 0.10%, to 1,975.88. The Nasdaq Composite shed 4.44 points, or 0.10%, to 4,501.41.

U.S. home prices rose 0.6% in July, slower than the 1% rise in June, according to S&P/Case-Shiller’s 20-city composite index released Tuesday.

News Corp (NWS) on Tuesday said it agreed to buy online real-estate listings business Move Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at about $950 million, expanding the media company’s presence in the U.S. real-estate market.

EBay said on Tuesday that it would spin off its PayPal payments unit into a separate publicly traded company, taking a step the activist hedge fund magnate Carl C. Icahn first demanded nine months ago.

The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone fell further below the European Central Bank’s target in September, and to its lowest level since October 2009. The European Union’s statistics agency said consumer prices were just 0.3% higher than in Sept. 2013, as the inflation rate slowed from 0.4% in Aug. The inflation rate has now been below 1.0% for 12 straight months.

A private gauge of activity in China’s manufacturing sector held steady in September following a notable slowdown in August. The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, was unchanged at a final reading of 50.2 in September from 50.2 in August, HSBC Holdings PLC said Tuesday.