Stocks Fluctuated ahead of Confidence Data

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher and turned lower in the early trading on Tuesday ahead of data on consumer confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 28.12 points, or 0.18%, to 15,973.77. The S&P 500 was down 0.73 points, or 0.04%, to 1,881.04. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.00 points, or 0.22%, to 4,533.97.

U.S. single-family home prices rose in July, matching the pace of price gains in June but falling just short of expectations, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas in July gained 5 percent year over year.

Goldman Sachs (GS) cut its year-end forecast for the S&P 500 (INDEX: .SPX) on Tuesday, citing a combination of the slower pace of economic activity in China and the U.S. and the fall in oil prices.

Oil prices gained on Tuesday on expectations that a slowdown in U.S. oil production will accelerate. Brent crude rose 0.9% to $48.40 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

Axel Springer of Germany said Tuesday that it would buy a controlling stake in Business Insider, the New York-based Internet media group, for $343 million, in the latest move by the company, one of Europe’s largest newspaper publishers, to extend its reach into digital and English-language media to offset sharply declining revenue from its traditional print titles.