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* Home Depot rises after profit beat, lifts Lowe's
* Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) gains on FY forecast raise
* Energy falls the most among S&P sectors
* Yields slip and pressure banks
* Indexes down: Dow 0.30%, S&P 0.46%, Nasdaq 0.35%
(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks eased on Tuesday after three
sessions of strong gains, weighed by declines in financial
companies, while better-than-expected results propped up
retailer Home Depot.
After a stormy start to the month on worsening trade
tensions, the three main indexes have rebounded sharply, with
the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC erasing last week's
losses on signs Germany and China are considering stimulus.
"Today just looks like a digestion day of recent gains and
there is not a lot of news that would swing the market wildly in
either direction," said Aaron Clark, portfolio manager at GW&K
Investment Management in Boston, Massachusetts.
Losses on the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 indexes were
tempered by a 3.9% rise in Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) HD.N , after the
company's quarterly profit beat estimates. Smaller rival Lowe's
Companies Inc LOW.N , due to report later this week, gained
1.9%. Shares of Netflix Inc NFLX.O were the biggest drag on the
S&P 500, losing 3% after Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Co DIS.N announced its
streaming service would launch in Canada and the Netherlands on
November. The S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK slipped 1% and the broader
financial sector .SPSY fell 0.91% as U.S. Treasury yields
slipped amid concerns about Italy's government and Britain's
tumultuous exit from the European Union. US/
All eyes this week will be on Wednesday's release of minutes
from the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting and Chair Jerome
Powell's speech on Friday at the Jackson Hole central bankers'
conference.
Powell's remarks will be closely monitored for hints if more
policy easing is in store, against the backdrop of an ongoing
trade war and growing fears of recession, signaled by the
inversion of the U.S. yield curve last week.
"I don't think Powell will have an overly dovish tone
compared to what the markets are expecting ... The consumer,
which is by far the largest piece of the U.S. economy, is still
pretty healthy," Clark said.
At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 77.52 points, or 0.30%, at 26,058.27, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 13.33 points, or 0.46%, at 2,910.32. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 28.28 points, or 0.35%, at 7,974.53.
All the major S&P sectors were trading lower, with the
energy sector .SPNY posting the steepest loss of 0.93% weighed
by lower oil prices. O/R
Medtronic Plc MDT.N gained 3.7%, and was among the biggest
gainers on the S&P 500, after the medical device maker raised
its full year adjusted profit forecast. TJX (NYSE:TJX) Cos Inc TJX.N fell 4% after off-price retailer posted
same-store quarterly sales that fell short of estimates for the
first time in more than a year.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.89-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 17 new highs and 33 new lows.