US open: Stocks down as investors await Trump speech
US stocks were a little weaker on Tuesday as investors awaited a speech by President Donald Trump and digested a weaker-than-expected reading on economic growth.
The Dow was looking like it may not be able to extend its streak of record closes to 13. On Monday, US equities shook off early losses to end higher, with the Dow notching up a record close for the 12th session in a row.
At 1523 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 20,826.45, the S&P 500 was down 0.15% to 2,366.18 and the Nasdaq fell 0.33% to 5,842.85.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate was 1.02% lower at $53.50 per barrel and Brent crude was 0.88% weaker at $55.44.
In currency markets, the dollar was down 0.11% against the pound to 0.8028, fell 0.34% versus the euro to 0.9414 and was 0.75% weaker against the yen to 111.85.
On Monday Trump teased investors with the promise of a "big" announcement on infrastructure.
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: “Trump’s words, while lacking few if any actual details, have so far been effective in getting investors pumped up at the prospect of a stronger economy but the longer this goes on, the less effective these promises are going to become and higher the risk is that the rally will run out of steam.
“The last few sessions may have seen the Dow extend its winning streak but the gains we’re talking about have been tiny. The market may well already be experiencing Trump fatigue and he’s now put himself in a position where he must deliver, and in a big way, or markets could quite quickly turn against him. I think Trump fully intends to deliver on the substantial promises and therefore in the longer term, these levels may be justified. The risk is that he’s unable to do so as quickly as he hoped at which point doubt will set in and I think markets may be preparing for the prospect of that a little in recent days.”
On the data front, gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter of 2016 was unchanged at 1.9%, missing expectations of a 2.1% upward revision.
Meanwhile, the trade deficit jumped to $69.2bn in January from $64.4bn the previous month. Economists had expected a rise to $66bn.
The consumer confidence index pushed up in February to 114.8 from 111.6 last month, beating expectations for a decline to 110.9. The present situation index rose to 133.4 from 130.0 and the expectations index jumped to 102.4 from 99.3 the previous month.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers' index rose to 57.4 from 50.3 the month before, beating expectations for a reading of 53.0 and marking the highest level since January 2015.
In corporate news, rental car company Hertz Global rose 2.41% after it reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss late on Monday.
Target tumbled 12.23% after the retailer fell short on revenue and earnings forecast.
SeaWorld Entertainment gained 4.37% despite reporting a dip in fourth quarter revenue and attendance numbers.
Kite Pharma surged 15.47% after reporting positive results from a study of a treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.