Stocks Opened Lower after Weak Data

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday as investors grappled with falling crude oil prices, weak economic data and mixed earnings results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 38.66 points, or 0.22%, to 17,584.39. The S&P 500 was off 5.99 points, or 0.29%, to 2,065.19. The Nasdaq Composite was down 4.40 points, or 0.09%, to 5,030.30.

U.S. single-family home prices rose in August at a slightly faster pace than in July and in line with expectations, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 5.1 percent in August on a year-over-year basis compared with 4.9 percent in July and was in line with estimates for 5.1 from a Reuters poll of economists.

A gauge of U.S. business investment plans fell for a second straight month in September, the latest indication that economic growth braked sharply in the third quarter. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, slipped 0.3 percent last month after a downwardly revised 1.6 percent decline in August.

The U.S. plans to sell millions of barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve from 2018 until 2025 under a budget deal reached on Monday night by the White House and top lawmakers from both parties.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on Wednesday said revenue jumped a better-than-expected 32% during its September quarter, as mobile revenue surged. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, revenue jumped 32% to $3.49 billion.

United Parcel Service Inc. beat third-quarter profit expectations, but missed on sales. Earnings rose to $1.26 billion, or $1.39 a share, from $1.21 billion, or $1.32 a share. Revenue slipped to $14.24 billion from $14.29 billion.

Pfizer Inc. reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook. Earnings fell to $2.13 billion, or 34 cents a share, from $2.67 billion, or 42 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 60 cents. Revenue slipped 2% to $12.09 billion.

Coach Inc. on Tuesday reported quarterly profit that came in higher than Wall Street’s consensus estimate, although sales skirted below expectations. The luxury-goods maker said fiscal first-quarter profit was $96.4 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with $119.1 million, or 43 cents a share, a year ago.

Crude-oil prices headed further south on Tuesday. Crude futures for delivery in December traded at $43.51 a barrel, down 47 cents or 1.1%. December Brent crude fell 32 cents, or 0.7%, to $47.22 a barrel.