Stocks Opened Little changed, awaited for Rate clues

U.S. stocks opened little changed on Tuesday as investors awaited further clues on the timing of the next Federal Reserve interest-rate hike. The Dow industrial Average lately fell 10.75 points, or 0.06%, to 18,492.24. The S&P 500 was off 0.40 point, or 0.02%, to 2,179.98. The Nasdaq Composite rose 3.43 points, or 0.07%, to 5,235.76.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer’s said on Bloomberg TV early Tuesday that it is impossible to say whether the next interest rate hike would be “one and done”.

U.S. home prices rose modestly in June, pushed up by strong sales and a limited supply of available properties. The Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, released Tuesday, increased 5.1 percent in June compared with a year ago. That’s down from a 5.3 percent annual gain in May and is the slowest year-over-year pace since last August.

Oil prices edged higher Tuesday amid lower trading volumes, as the August price rally lost momentum, with crude hovering around $47 to $50 a barrel. The October contract for global benchmark Brent was up 0.35% at $49.43 a barrel, while U.S. counterpart West Texas Intermediate was up 0.4% at $47.17 a barrel.