US open: Stocks flat as investors digest mixed economic data

(Sharecast News) - US stocks opened more or less flat on Tuesday as investors digested a flurry of data on a busy week for economic indicators, earnings and central-bank action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1% early on, while the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the Nasdaq was flat.

Economic data came in mixed today, with leading indicators very much in focus ahead of the two-day policy decision meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) which concludes on Wednesday. Tomorrow's session will also see the release of the ADP employment report for October, while the government's official non-farm payrolls figure will be published on Friday.

The Chicago manufacturing PMI fell from 44.1 to 44.0 in October, its 14th straight month below the 50-point level which separates contraction with expansion.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to a five-month low of 102.6 this month, from a revised 104.3 in September, though above the 100 reading expected.

Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index increased 2.6% year-on-year in August, after a 1% rise in July, with prices now at an all-time high.

However, analysts at Oxford Economics said that prices will likely come under renewed pressure "given the steady climb in mortgage rates, which sat at a multi-decade high of nearly 8% as of last week.

"Though the recent surge in bond yields will likely keep the Fed on hold at tomorrow's FOMC meeting, rate cuts are not on the immediate horizon, and a higher-for-longer approach from the Fed will keep mortgage rates elevated."

Pinterest up, Pfizer down

Pinterest surged 19% as the photo-sharing app third-quarter results beat expectations. Adjusted earnings rose 154% year-on-year to 28 cents a share, ahead of the 20 cents estimate.

Drugmaker Pfizer fell 1.5% after swinging to a worse-than-expected net loss of $2.38 billion in the third quarter, compared with a net income of $8.61 billion a year earlier.

Caterpillar dropped 5% despite posting a jump in third-quarter profit amid solid demand for its high-end construction equipment in North America.

JetBlue Airways tanked as it cautioned that fourth-quarter losses would be wider than expected. Sector peers American, United, Delta and Southwest also fell.