By Donna Kardos Yesalavich, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks were trading slightly lower Tuesday, as commodities slid, the dollar rose, and data on the nation's industrial production came in weaker than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 10,384, -22.52, -0.22%) at last check was off 6 points at 10,401, retreating from the new high for the year it hit Monday.
The Nasdaq Composite (COMP 2,188, -9.89, -0.45%) slid 0.1%.
The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX 1,104, -4.99, -0.45%) was down 0.2%, led by its consumer discretionary and materials sectors. The materials sector's decline came as metals futures slid. Crude oil futures also fell, hurting the energy sector.
Home Depot (HD 26.53, -1.12, -4.05%) was the Dow's biggest decliner, off 2.7% recently. Although the home-improvement retailer posted a smaller-than-expected decline in fiscal third-quarter profit, its implied outlook for the fourth quarter came in below analysts' forecast, and its sales at comparable stores decelerated from the second quarter.
Bank of America (BAC 15.67, -0.20, -1.26%) and Alcoa (AA 13.39, -0.22, -1.62%) were also down more than 1%. The declines were held in check by Microsoft (MSFT 29.75, +0.21, +0.72%) , which climbed 1.1%.
Meanwhile, the dollar gained against the euro and the yen, although Treasurys slipped. The 10-year note was recently down 6/32 to yield 3.371%.
The action came as the Federal Reserve said industrial production last month rose 0.1%, smaller than the 0.3% increase Wall Street had expected. Details on the industrial production data.
However, the disappointing industrial-production data was offset by a smaller-than-expected rise in U.S. wholesale prices, which is expected to give the Federal Reserve continued ammunition in trying to support the economic recovery by keeping interest rates at a record low close to zero.
"The data goes a ways in calming some inflation fears," said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management. "I wouldn't be surprised if we end up rising later in the day, as you're getting closer and closer to year end. And with the market now continuing to make new highs, and a lot of people all year long waiting for the pullback, the pressure becomes more intense for people coming in from behind."
Tuesday's decline in U.S. stocks comes a day after stocks hit new highs for the year on signs of economic growth in Asia and a commitment by Ben Bernanke to maintain low interest rates.
Still to come Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders is set to release its housing market index for November at 1 p.m. Eastern.
