Stocks Opened Lower after North Korea Missile Test

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, after a North Korean missile test over Japanese airspace rattled investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 64.08 points, 0.29%, to 21,744.32. The S&P 500 fell 9.73 points, or 0.40%, to 2,434.51. The Nasdaq Composite declined 26.15 points, or 0.42%, to 6,256.86.

Crude-oil prices struggled for direction early Tuesday, as refinery outages in the wake of Hurricane Harvey sparked fears of diminished demand for U.S. oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was of a penny, or less than 0.1%, at $46.55 a barrel. Brent oil fell 0.4% to $51.66 a barrel on Tuesday.

U.S. home prices climbed higher in June with gains that are eclipsing income growth — creating affordability pressures for would-be buyers. The Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.7 percent in June, according to a Tuesday report. The separate national average rose as well, putting it 4.3 points above its housing bubble-era peak in July 2006.