(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stocks ended a volatile session sharply lower on Tuesday staging a late-day selloff as investors took in better-than-expected home sales data and a report showing consumer prices rose for the first time in four months in February.
At the closing bell in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 105 points to settle at 18011 while the Nasdaq shed 16 points to end at 4995 and the S&P 500 fell 12 points to finish at 2092. For most of the session major indexes were wavering between slight losses and gains.
On the economic calendar today the government reported the consumer price index in February rose for the first time in four months increasing 0.2% as expected. Core minus the volatile food and energy categories also climbed 0.2%.
Later in the day the Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes in the U.S. surged in February rising to the highest level in seven years despite the bad weather. The pace of new home sales climbed 7.8% last month to an annual rate of 539000 from an upwardly revised 500000 in January. Economists were expecting an annual rate of 462000.
Oil prices were swinging this morning after activity in China's factory sector dropped to an 11 month low and Saudi Arabia also said its production was near an all-time high. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery settled at $47.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange up 0.1% ahead of U.S. supply data. Gold for April delivery rose 0.3% to settle at $1191.40 an ounce on Comex its fifth straight day of gains.
European markets settled mostly higher today after new data showed business activity in the eurozone hitting a 46-month high in March. Meanwhile Asian stocks mostly finished lower after activity in China's factory sector slipped to an 11-month low in March as new orders tanked. HSBC's flash China manufacturing index fell to 49.2 from 50.7 in February.
In corporate activity McCormick & Co () beat profit and sales estimates for the quarter despite earnings dropping 15 percent on one-time charges and pressure from a stronger US dollar. Shares rose 2.6% on Tuesday.
() shed more than 0.7% after slashing its quarterly dividend by 84% due to lower commodity prices.
() was in view with shares rising 1% after billionaire Carl Icahn increased his stake in the company to 73 million shares from 66 million in December. The oil and gas company also lowered its 2015 capex budget by $500 million due to weak commodity prices.
Networks () tumbled over 33% after the provider of networked solutions for communications service providers trimmed its forecast for the current quarter.
Elsewhere () has reportedly been holding quiet talks with several media companies about hosting their content inside the social network rather than having users tap a link to be directed to an external site.
Amazon's () Twitch unit has announced that its website for streaming videogame play was hacked and user information may have been compromised.
General Motors () is investing $350 million to build its next generation Chevrolet Cruze compact in Mexico part of a $5 billion investment plan in plants south of the border that the company announced last year.
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