Stocks have moved mostly higher lower in morning trading on Tuesday, giving back ground following the strong upward move seen in the previous session. The major averages have all moved back to the downside on the day.
Currently, the major averages are off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Dow is down 288.21 points or 1 percent at 29,662.23, the Nasdaq is down 37.02 points or 0.3 percent at 11,887.11 and the S&P 500 is down 25.09 points or 0.7 percent at 2,601.82.
The pullback on Wall Street partly reflects profit taking after the strength seen in the previous session lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.
The advance seen on Monday came amid more upbeat news regarding a potential coronavirus vaccine, although a continued spike in cases is weighing on the markets.
Data from John Hopkins University showed more than 166,000 news coronavirus cases on Monday, with the total number of cases in the U.S. now exceeding 11 million.
Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report from the Commerce Department showing retail sales rose by less than expected in the month of October.
The report said retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in October after jumping by a downwardly revised 1.6 percent in September.
Economists had expected retail sales to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.9 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding an increase in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales edged up by 0.2 percent in October after surging up by 1.2 percent in September. Ex-auto sales were expected to increase by 0.6 percent.
Gregory Daco, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics noted retail sales are 4.9 percent above their pre-Covid levels but called the near-term outlook "concerning."
"While phase one of the recovery proved that fiscally supported incomes can be potent drivers of spending on goods, we should not fall for alluring rearview mirror economics," Daco said.
He added, "Phase two of the recovery is significantly slower with muted employment gains and reduced fiscal aid weighing on incomes, and a worsening Covid outbreak once again limiting activity across the country."
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released a separate report showing a significant rebound in U.S. industrial production in the month of October.
The Fed said industrial production jumped by 1.1 percent in October after falling by a revised 0.4 percent in September.
Economists had expected production to surge up by 1.0 percent compared to the 0.6 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
The National Association of Home Builders also released a report showing U.S. homebuilder confidence improved to another new record high in November.
Banking stocks have shown a significant move to the downside in morning trading, with the KBW Bank Index slumping by 2.2 percent after ending the previous session at an eight-month closing high.
Considerable weakness has also emerged among energy stocks, which are pulling back after turning in some of the market's best performances in the previous session.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 2.3 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index is down by 1.5 percent.
Housing, computer hardware, and transportation stocks are also seeing notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has plunged by 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved higher following the modest drop seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.6 basis points at 0.880 percent.
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