US open: Stocks start session lower following losing week

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Tuesday as market participants returned from the Presidents' Day long weekend. As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.17% at 38,563.23, while the S&P 500 lost 0.72% to 4,969.56 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.39% weaker at 15,556.70.

The Dow opened 64.76 points lower on Tuesday, taking about out of gains recorded in the previous session.

Despite Friday's gains, major indices turned in their first losing week in more than a month, driven by fears that the Federal Reserve may not look to cut interest rates at quite the pace investors had hoped to see.

Early on Tuesday, the yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury note was down roughly two basis points at 4.263%, while its two-year counterpart was around four basis points softer at 4.597%.

In the corporate space, Home Depot beat projections for its quarterly profit performance, even as sales came in lower than anticipated.

Elsewhere, retail giant Walmart revealed that it will acquire TV-maker Vizio for $2.3bn and also published quarterly earnings and revenue numbers that came in ahead of expectations, principally due to double-digit growth in e-commerce sales, while Capital One Financial traded lower on the back of news that it will reportedly purchase Discover Financial Services in an all-stock deal worth $35.3bn.

No major macro news was slated for publication on Tuesday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $179.90 5.60% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $60.55 1.95% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $159.70 1.39% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $129.15 1.06% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $22.21 1.05% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $157.93 0.88% Intel Corp. (INTC) $43.89 0.87% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $219.13 0.74% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $293.77 0.60% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $524.15 0.50%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $315.66 -1.94% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $284.69 -1.74% Visa Inc. (V) $274.02 -1.63% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $356.62 -1.58% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.15 -1.30% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $399.08 -1.23% Nike Inc. (NKE) $102.42 -1.05% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $180.55 -0.97% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $55.19 -0.52% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $186.82 -0.44%

S&P 500 - Risers

Discover Financial Services (DFS) $123.50 11.77% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $179.90 5.60% Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $39.62 5.60% ConAgra Brands Inc (CAG) $28.22 3.69% Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $34.91 2.89% United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $43.16 2.79% Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) $42.51 2.56% Kroger Co. (KR) $48.85 2.54% McCormick & Co. (MKC) $67.79 2.48% General Mills Inc. (GIS) $65.66 2.43%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fluor Corp. (FLR) $38.62 -8.24% Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $114.16 -6.88% J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $201.00 -5.05% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $690.21 -4.95% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $189.90 -4.84% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $165.53 -4.80% VF Corp. (VFC) $15.98 -4.02% Mastercard Incorporated (MA) $453.19 -3.19% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $139.60 -2.66% Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) $25.39 -2.65%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $1.11 6.25% Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $19.52 3.01% Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $18.58 2.65% Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $35.53 2.08% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $73.25 1.76% Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $145.61 1.56% American Airlines Group (AAL) $14.85 1.47% T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $162.67 1.41% Incyte Corp. (INCY) $58.76 1.39% Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $8.59 1.36%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $201.00 -5.05% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $690.21 -4.95% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $189.90 -4.84% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $23.21 -4.18% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $192.82 -3.57% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $139.60 -2.66% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $532.51 -2.59% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $903.80 -2.40% Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $906.92 -2.37% Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $102.90 -2.12%