New York - Wall Street stocks eased off of record highs in opening trade on Tuesday, as strong US housing data was offset by disappointing Walmart earnings.
Ten minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18 277.23, down 21.65 points (0.12%). The S&P 500 was at 2 126.39, down 2.81 (0.13%)
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index meanwhile fell 0.52 (0.01%) to 5 077.92.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 closed at records Monday.
US housing starts rose 20.2% in April from March to an annual rate of 1,135,000 units, the best level for new home construction since November 2007.
But Dow member Wal-Mart Stores fell 2.5% after reporting a seven percent decline to $3.3bn in earnings for the quarter ending April 30.
The results translated into $1.03 per share, a penny shy of analyst expectations.