Tuesday's early trade: S&P 500 trading flat

The S&P 500 was trading flat on Tuesday, handing back some gains from a strong rally in the previous session, as investors digested a mixed set of quarterly results from retailers including Home Depot and Walmart.

Home improvement chain Home Depot fell 1.4% as it missed quarterly profit estimates due to higher costs, while department store operator Kohl's Corp slumped 8.4% after reporting a bigger-than-expected loss.

Walmart Inc, on the other hand, gained 0.7% after posting a jump in first-quarter US comparable sales as online sales soared due to stockpiling of essentials during the coronavirus-related lockdown.

Trillions of dollars in stimulus has helped the S&P 500 rebound more than 34% from its March lows. Although it is now just about 13% below its record high, the pace of the rally has slowed in May owing to uncertainty over the outbreak and rising US-China tensions.

At 11:06 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 64.58 points, or 0.26%, at 24,532.79, the S&P 500 was up 0.71 points, or 0.02%, at 2,954.62. The Nasdaq Composite was up 51.95 points, or 0.56%, at 9,286.77.

Gains in technology focused companies including Apple Inc, Amazon.com and Intel Corp helped the Nasdaq stay in the positive territory.