Stocks were lower on Tuesday, adding to Monday's decline, as market participants continue to trade anxiously ahead of remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 100 points, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% lower and the Nasdaq Composite closed at a negative flatline.
Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.22% or -9.29 points to 4,128.70
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.47% or -154.62 points to 32,908.99
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.00% or -0.27 points to 12,381.30
Investors were met with fresh economic data on Tuesday, with the preliminary reading on service sector and manufacturing activity for August showing further contractions in activity for the private sector.
The S&P Global's report showed service sector activity declined to 44.1, down from 47.3 in July and marking a 27-month low; any reading below the neutral level of 50 means contraction in a sector. Meanwhile, manufacturing activity only slightly contracted in August, decreasing to 51.3 from 52.2 in July.
"August flash PMI data signaled further disconcerting signs for the health of the U.S. private sector," said Sian Jones, senior economist at S&P Global, in a statement. "Demand conditions were dampened again, sparked by the impact of interest rate hikes and strong inflationary pressures on customer spending, which weighed on activity. Gathering clouds spread across the private sector as services new orders returned to contractionary territory, mirroring the subdued demand conditions seen at their manufacturing counterparts."
Separately, new U.S. home sales also declined in July, falling 12.6% from June to an annualized rate of 511,000 homes. At the same time, supply rose to 10.9 months, showing more signed that the housing market is in a recession.
For earnings, Macy's (NYSE: M) shares rose nearly 4% on Tuesday after the retailer reported better-than-expected earnings on Tuesday. However, the company lowered its full-year outlook, now seeing revenue in the range of $24.34 billion to $24.58 billion.
"The consumer is not as healthy as they were in prior quarters," CEO Adrian Mitchell said during an earnings calls. "We have seen declining retail traffic in areas of weakening apparel sales over the quarter as the consumer faces higher costs on essential goods, particularly grocery."
Zoom (NASDAQ: ZOOM) shares took a hit on Tuesday after the company also lowered its outlook following its earnings report. The video conferencing platform now expects full-year revenue of about $4.4 billion, down from estimates of $4.6 billion.
Looking ahead, traders will focus on earnings from companies like Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) aftermarket and more economic data due out Wednesday morning.