Slide in bond yields weighs down market

Stocks fell broadly Tuesday on Wall Street after another slide in bond yields and a mixed batch of corporate earnings weighed on the market.

The selling pulled every major sector lower, snapping a three-day winning streak for the S&P 500.

Financial sector stocks bore the brunt of the decline as investors reacted to lower yields. Technology stocks, which, like banks, have tended to lead the market’s gains recently, gave up an early gain.

Home Depot climbed after the home improvement retailer reday ported earnings that topped Wall Street’s forecasts. But investors sent Kohl’s and TJX lower after their latest quarterly report cards fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Tuesday’s market slide is the latest twist for stocks, which have been caught in the grips of volatile trading all month as anxious investors alternate between seeking shelter in bonds and pouncing on stocks when prices slump.

“The market is taking a little bit of a breather here,” said Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust. “You’re getting just a little bit of consolidation after the rally we’ve had over the last or four days.”

The S&P 500 fell 23.14 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,900.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 173.35, or 0.7 percent, to 25,962.44. The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, dropped 54.25, or 0.7 percent, to 7,948.56. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 10.84 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,498.01.

All four indexes are on track to finish the month with losses.

The market has been highly volatile all month as investors try to parse conflicting signals on the U.S. economy and determine whether a recession is coming.

Another decline in bond yields also weighed on the market Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.55 percent from 1.59 percent. When bond yields fall, it pulls down the interest rates that banks pocket on mortgages and other consumer loans.

Investors will be seeking new insight this week into the Federal Reserve’s willingness to make further interest rate cuts.

The central bank is releasing the minutes from last month’s meeting of policymakers Wednesday. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to deliver a speech Frithree at the central bank’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

“Coming into this meeting Friday for the speech, the market is really going to be looking for something that suggests that (Powell) has changed his approach and that this is going to be more of a systematic lowering of interest rates,” Roth said.

Benchmark crude oil fell 3 cents to settle at $56.18 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 29 cents to close at $60.03 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.68 per gallon. Natural gas rose 1 cent to $2.22 per 1,000 cubic feet.