NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks declined early Tuesday following a downbeat report on durable goods orders and mixed earnings from retailers.

New durable goods orders for January decreased by 6.1 percent to $276.7 billion, a bigger than expected drop and a negative sign for business investment.

The report comes ahead of consumer confidence data later Tuesday and inflation data later in the week.

Wall St indexes mix in choppy trade

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 percent at 38,945.32.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 5,065.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped less than 0.1 percent to 15,970.18.

Among individual companies, Macy’s jumped 4.5 percent as it announced plans to close 150 “underproductive” locations in an effort to jumpstart profits.

Chevron fell 1.9 percent after disclosing that its proposed $53 billion acquisition of Hess could be at risk if the control of a key oil asset is successfully challenged by rival petroleum giants.

The issue concerns Hess’s 30 percent stake in a Guyana field that partners, ExxonMobil and Cnooc, have asserted a right to purchase. Chevron, which disputes the claim, said it still expects the deal to close.