US stocks waver in morning trading on Wall Street

US stock indexes were little changed in morning trading yesterday, a day after the market closed at record highs. Investors were sizing up the latest crop of company earnings and new data on home construction and industrial production. Health care and real estate companies fell more than the rest of the market. Consumer goods makers rose. The price of oil edged higher.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,399 as of 11:07 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 14 points, or 0.1 percent, to 20,967. The Nasdaq composite index was up 2 points at 6,151. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new highs on Monday.

SPRUCED UP: Home Depot topped expectations for profit and revenue in the first quarter. The home-improvement retailer also raised its profit outlook for the year. The stock gained $1.97, or 1.3 percent, to $159.30.

DIALED IN: Sina surged 18.3 percent after the online and mobile media services company's latest quarterly results beat Wall Street's forecasts, thanks partly to a sharp pickup in online advertising sales. The stock added $15.42 to $99.46.

DEFLATED: Dick's Sporting Goods slumped 11.6 percent after the retailer reported quarterly results that missed analysts' expectations. The stock slid $5.54 to $42.03.

UNFASHIONABLE: The TJX Cos. fell 4.4 percent after the apparel and home fashions retailer's quarterly results fell short of Wall Street's forecasts. The stock lost $3.40 to $73.50.

ECONOMIC DATA: The Commerce Department said residential construction fell for a second straight month in April, pushing activity to the lowest point in five months. Housing starts slid 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units. The weakness was led by a big drop in construction of apartments, a volatile sector. Separately, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production at US factories, mines and utilities shot up 1 percent in April from March. That's the biggest gain since February 2014 and the third straight monthly gain. The increase was more than twice what economists had expected.

ENERGY: Benchmark US crude was up 1 cent to at $48.86 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was down 17 cents at $51.65 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar declined to 113.04 yen from Monday's 113.68 yen. The euro gained to $1.1080 from $1.0978.

TREASURY YIELDS: Bond prices rose. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.31 percent.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 0.2 percent, while France's CAC-40 was flat. London's FTSE 100 rose 1 percent. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent and Seoul's Kospi added 0.2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.1 percent.