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New York - Wall Street stocks finished lower on Tuesday following disappointing German economic data and ahead of Wednesday's report on US retail sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 9.44 points (0.06%) to 16 560.54.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 3.17 (0.16%) to 1 933.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 12.08 (0.27%) to 4,389.25.
Market sentiment was dulled by the 18.5 point fall in the ZEW German investor confidence index to 8.6 points in August, its lowest level since December 2012.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals surged 16.6% higher as it disclosed encouraging clinical results from a trial on an experimental liver-disease drug. Deutsche Bank said the results "firmly establishes" Intercept's treatment as a "big player" for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
Another biopharmaceutical company, MannKind, sank 12.3% one day after disclosing a worldwide licensing deal with French pharma giant Sanofi to commercialise the Afrezza insulin therapy.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that while Sanofi was a "very strong" partner, the structure of the deal will delay the payoff to MannKind.
Schlumberger slid 1.2% after saying that US and European Union sanctions on Moscow have hit its oilfield services in Russia and will slice 3 cents per share from earnings in the third quarter.
Women's fashion house Kate Spade plummeted 25.4% as the company said a tough competitive environment has forced it to slash prices. That overshadowed an increase in the company's earnings forecast.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.44% from 2.42% on Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.27% from 3.23%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
