Stocks ended a volatile session Tuesday mixed, following an unexpected drop in U.S. homebuilding that weakened the economic outlook. The Commerce Department reported record lows for housing starts and building permits in April. Housing starts fell almost 13 percent from March, and building permits fell 3 percent. While multi-family housing starts dropped sharply, starts and permits for single-family homes—the core of the housing market—rose slightly. Light sweet crude oil for June delivery rose 62 cents to $59.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose to a high of $60.48 in pre-market trading. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro, the yen, and the British pound. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 29.23, or 0.3 percent, to 8,474.05. Home Depot reported quarterly profits that surpassed expectations. Despite the report, shares of the home-improvement retailer fell almost 4 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.58, or 0.2 percent, to 908.13. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 2.18, or 0.1 percent, to 1,734.54. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 6.35 to 5,872.22. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 6.59 to 1,503.92. And the Russell 2000 index fell 1.53 to 493.26.
