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New York - US stocks fell back Tuesday as investors digested a slew of corporate earnings and awaited a key annual speech by President Barack Obama.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 55.63 points (0.46%) to 11 924.82 at 1620 GMT, while the broad-market S&P 500 index retreated 6.32 points (0.49%) to 1 284.52.
The tech-rich Nasdaq shed 14.23 points (0.52%) at 2 703.32.
"The calendar is heavy today with earnings and economic news. The president's State of the Union speech is tonight and the FOMC is also holding a two-day meeting that begins today," said Scott Marcouiller at Wells Fargo Advisors.
The central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee is not expected to raise interest rates from current ultra-low levels.
Obama is expected to use the State of the Union address to discuss how his administration plans to create jobs amid a tepid economic recovery that has kept unemployment persistently high at a rate above nine percent.
Economic releases were mixed.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index, which had slipped in December, rose in January to 60.6, its highest level since May, much better than the average forecast of a slight rise from December's 53.3 level.
But there was more bad news on the housing crisis, at the center of the economy's struggle to recover from the worst recession in decades.
Home prices fell for the fifth consecutive month in November, by 0.5%, according to the S&P Case-Shiller indexes
Inna Mufteeva, an economist at Natixis, noted the glut of foreclosures would keep prices subdued.
"In the context of job market sluggish revival and continuous deleveraging of households, real estate remains the area of risk for the current economic recovery," Mufteeva said.
Dow components Johnson & Johnson, Verizon and the Travelers Companies were among a flood of earnings results.
Shares in J&J fell 1.70% to $61.16 after the health care giant reported a 12% drop in fourth-quarter profit and a sharper than expected fall in revenue.
Verizon rose 2.67% to $36.18. The telecommunications group, partner in the Verizon Wireless joint venture with Britain's Vodafone, reported slowing sales in the fourth quarter and 2010 profit nearly half that of the previous year.
Insurance firm Travelers rose 2.21% to $56.85 after posting earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.
ExxonMobil, the Dow's biggest blue chip, dipped 0.22% to $78.42.
The stocks action came after gains Monday that brought the Dow within striking distance of the 12 000 mark.
The bond market extended its rise for a third day. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell to 3.40% from 3.41% Monday, while the 30-year Treasury fell to 4.55% from 4.56%.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
