Tepid start for Wall Street stocks after record day

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks began Tuesday in a mixed fashion, with traders holding back following a day that saw healthy gains by the Dow and new records for the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

About 30 minutes into trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly flat at 28,305.18.

The broad-based S&P 500 was similarly unchanged at 3,432.68, while the Nasdaq was down 0.2 percent at 11,353.48.

Monday's session was buoyed by hopes for a new coronavirus treatment, and Charles Schwab investment bank said China and the United States' announcement after markets closed that they would "push forward" on their "phase one" trade deal could fuel Tuesday's sentiment.

"US-China trade tensions appear to have eased somewhat after the two largest world economies reaffirmed pledges to carry out the phase-one trade agreement," Schwab said.

The Dow's parent company announced after Monday's session finished that it was shaking up the index, removing oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp in favor of cloud computing firm Salesforce.

Also incoming is biotech company Amgen to replace pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and industrial systems manufacturer Honeywell will take the spot of defense contractor Raytheon.

The changes take effect August 31.

Traders are eyeing the release of Commerce Department data on new home sales to see if the record gains in the housing market continue, as well as the Conference Board's latest consumer confidence figure, both of which are coming out Tuesday morning.