US Stock Market Cuts Losses on Strong Housing Data

Apple (Swiss: AAPL.SW – news), for whom China is a key market, fell 0.5 percent to 116.60 and was the biggest drag on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 32.35 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 5,059.35.

NEW YORK, August 18 (Reuters) – A 6 percent tumble in Chinese shares on Tuesday and soft earnings from Wal-Mart held U.S. equities in check while copper touched multi-year lows.

Shanghai stocks dropped 6.15 percent on Tuesday, with the benchmark Composite Index losing 245 points and marking the hardest fall in three weeks.

Investors also took into account the earnings release of two Dow Jones industrial average components: Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday as investors digested upbeat housing data and a mixed bag of earnings reports. Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.3 per cent.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index eased 0.31 percent.

Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the energy index’s 0.6 percent fall leading the decliners.

The worries about China came on a day when trade in the yuan was relatively calm after Beijing fixed the currency’s exchange rate marginally higher for the third successive session.

The People’s Bank of China set the Chinese currency’s midpoint rate at 6.3966 against the dollar, but the yuan fell against the greenback during Asia trading to about 6.40.

EUROPE: Major markets in Europe closed with slight losses.

Concerns about slowing demand for commodities from China also hit copper prices, which slid to a six-year low of $4,983 a tonne, breaking the psychological $5,000 level, and were last down 1.8 percent at $5,022 a tonne.

NEW HOUSES: Builders started work on single-family homes at the fastest pace since 2007, driving up shares in Lennar, D.R. Horton and other companies tied to the housing market. Brent crude for October delivery, an worldwide benchmark, rose 7 cents to close at $48.81 in London. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 9.05 points to 4,555.70.

Zulily, an online retailer of women s and children s clothing, surged 49.1 percent on news it would be acquired by Liberty Interactive s QVC cable TV shopping group for $2.4 billion.

Economic data points are being carefully evaluated by investors to gauge when the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

U.S. stocks have been stuck in a range this year, as investors grapple with a slowdown in global economic growth and an eventual increase in U.S. interest rates.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.20 percent from 2.17 percent Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.86 percent from 2.82 percent.