NEW YORK - Investors retreated Tuesday, sending stocks moderately lower as existing home sales slid and volatile oil prices intensified Wall Street's summer malaise.
The market's opening sell-off continued after the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously owned homes dropped 2.6 percent in July as mortgage rates crept up. Even with the decline, sales were the third-highest level on record.
The latest snapshot of housing activity suggested that the sizzling housing market might be cooling slightly. Investors have been closely watching home sales, worried that the housing boom is nearing its end. A contraction could hurt consumer spending, because a raft of home equity loans has put cash in consumers' pockets.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 50.31, or 0.48 percent, to 10,519.58.
Broader stock indicators were narrowly mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.14, or 0.34 percent, to 1,217.59, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 4.16, or 0.19 percent, to 2,137.25.
Traders also worried as oil prices first rose, then fell. The volatility did not please equity investors, who are concerned that higher gasoline prices are curbing consumer spending. On Saturday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said its third-quarter results would miss analysts' expectations because of rising oil prices.
A barrel of light crude settled at $65.71, up 6 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"We started the year at $42 a barrel oil - that was a concern, but we could get past it," said David Sowerby, the chief market analyst at Loomis, Sayles & Co. "When we crossed $60, I don't think anyone could question what $60 is going to do to retail sales."
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