S&P 500 breaks streak; Dow at record

New York - Wall Street stocks finished mixed on Tuesday in a choppy session following disappointing Walmart earnings and a pullback in many petroleum stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 13.51 points at 18 312.39, striking an all-time high for the second day in a row.

But the broad-based S&P 500 slipped 1.37 to 2 127.83, ending a three-day streak of record closing peaks, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 8.41 to 5 070.03.

US housing starts leaped 20.2% in April to an annual rate of 1 135.000 units, the best level of new home construction since November 2007.

Dow member Wal-Mart Stores fell 4.4% after reporting a seven percent decline to $3.3bn in earnings for its fiscal first quarter ending in April 30. The results translated into $1.03 per share, a penny shy of analyst expectations.

Many petroleum-linked stocks tumbled following a big retreat in oil prices, including Anadarko Petroleum (-1.7%), Halliburton (-3.5%) and Transocean (-5.9%).

Dow member JPMorgan Chase rose 0.9% after 61% of shareholders endorsed the company's controversial $20m compensation package for chief executive Jamie Dimon. Shareholder advisory groups ISS and Glass Lewis opposed the plan as poorly linked to bank performance.

Other banks also rose, including Bank of America (+1.6%), Citigroup (+1.2%) and Morgan Stanley (+0.9%).

Dow member Home Depot fell 1.7% despite reporting a 14.5% jump in first-quarter net income to $1.6bn. The home improvement retailer lifted its profit forecast after comparable sales surged 6.1% in the quarter.

Starbucks advanced 0.5% after unveiling a music-streaming partnership with Swedish company Spotify. The collaboration would incorporate Spotify into aspects of Starbucks's loyalty program.

UPS rose 0.2% after agreeing to a $25m settlement with the Justice Department to resolve US charges it broke promises of overnight delivery in government contracts and deliberately hid delays. UPS said it agreed to the settlement to avoid "costly litigation" and that it disagreed with the government's case.

Urban Outfitters, a youth apparel retailer, dived 15.0% as net income fell 12.5% to $32.8m for its fiscal first quarter ending April 30.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.28% from 2.23% on Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.07% to 3.03%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.