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New York - US stocks ended an up-and-down day mostly lower Tuesday as investors watched a Washington budget debate as the deadline for funding the government looms.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 66.79 points to 15 334.59.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 4.42 points to 1 697.42, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 2.97 points to 3 768.25.
Investors are anxious amid a fierce bipartisan battle in Congress over funding the government for the fiscal year that begins October 1.
Failure to approve funding could force parts of the government to shut down.
Economic data was mixed. The Conference Board reported consumer confidence fell in September. The Case-Shiller report on US home prices showed prices rose in July, but at a slower pace.
Financial equities were sharp decliners. Two of the Dow's newest components, Goldman Sachs and Visa, tumbled 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively.
Citigroup dropped 1.2% and Wells Fargo shed 1.4%.
JPMorgan Chase, a Dow component, fell a hefty 2.2% amid regulatory woes. The bank has offered to pay about $3bn to settle several pending probes, the Wall Street Journal reported online.
Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry lost 3.3% one day after announcing a proposed $4.7bn buyout by a consortium planning to take the struggling firm private.
Applied Materials, which makes tools to produce semiconductors and displays, surged 9.1% after announcing a plan to merge with Tokyo Electron to create a new firm worth $29bn.
Homebuilder Lennar rose 4.3% after earnings came in at 54 cents per share, nine cents above expectations. The company said the long-term outlook "remains extremely bright".
KB Home, another homebuilder, tacked on 4.3% after earnings bested expectations by nine cents at 30 cents per share.
Red Hat, a developer of cloud computing systems and other technologies, sank 11.7% after earnings narrowly bested expectations, but billings fell short of the level expected by some analysts. Deutsche Bank said it was "cautious" on the company "as momentum slows" to "the lowest in 17 quarters."
Bond prices surged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 2.65% from 2.71% on Monday, while the 30-year fell to 3.67% from 3.75%. Prices and yields move inversely.
