Stocks Opened Slightly Lower as Oil Rally Faltered

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday after oil prices resumed their declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 46.23 points, or 0.28%, to 16,574.43. The S&P 500 fell 7.01 points, or 0.36%, to 1,938.49. The Nasdaq Composite was down 16.68 points, or 0.36%, to
4,553.93.

U.S. home prices increased at a steady clip in December, helped by a healthy job market and low mortgage rates. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.7 percent from a year earlier, same as the annual increase in November.

JP Morgan will set aside an additional half a billion dollars to cover potential bad loans to oil and gas companies in the first quarter, underlining the sharp deterioration in the U.S. energy sector.

Macy’s Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales and the department store operator said it has started contacting parties to gauge their interest in partnerships or joint ventures for its flagship and mall-based properties.

Home Depot reported better-than-expected profit and revenue in the fourth quarter and comparable-store sales jumped as the company continues to ride a sustained recovery in the housing market.The nation’s largest home improvement retailer also boosted its quarterly dividend by 17 percent.