Summary

US equity indexes ended mixed on Tuesday, with an afternoon rebound carrying blue-chip stocks back to positive ground and paring earlier losses for other major market gauges after the Conference Board reported a larger-than-expected decline in consumer confidence during February and sparking a big drop in government bond yields.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4% to 19,026.4 while the S&P 500 slumped 0.5% to 5,955.3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, rose 0.4% to 43,621.2. Energy, communication services and technology companies led the S&P 500 lower while consumer staples, real estate and health care stocks posted the largest gains on Tuesday.

The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 98.3 in February from January's 105.3 reading, making for a larger drop than the 102.5 score expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. "Consumers became pessimistic about future business conditions and less optimistic about future income," Stephanie Guichard, a senior economist at the Board, said in a note. "Pessimism about future employment prospects worsened and reached a ten-month high."

The news sent US Treasury yields lower, with the 10-year note sinking 10 basis points to 4.29% and the two-year rate losing 6.6 basis points to 4.10%.

In other economic news, the weekly Redbook survey of larger retail chains showed a 6.2% increase in same-store sales during the seven days ended Feb. 22, down slightly from a 6.3% advance the prior week. The Federal Housing Finance Agency Tuesday said US home prices rose 0.4% during December, matching a revised 0.4% month-over-month increase in November and climbing 4.7% over year-ago levels.

In company news, Tesla's stock price slid 8.4% on Tuesday, with the combined value of the electric vehicle manufacturer's shares falling below $1 trillion for the first time since Nov. 14, after new data Tuesday showed a 45% year-over-year decline in Tesla unit sales in the European Union and the UK during January. Since touching an all-time high of $488.54 per share on Dec. 18, the stock has given back more than one-third of its former value, erasing over $600 billion from its market capitalization over the span.

To the upside, Organovo more than tripled in value, closing 244% higher, after the bio-printer company Tuesday agreed to sell its FXR cell membrane program and its FXR314 lead therapeutic molecule to Eli Lilly for $10 million and up to $50 million in milestone payments as the prospective treatment for ulcerative colitis reaches selected clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones. Lilly shares rose 2.4% higher shortly before Tuesday's close.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures settled $1.77 lower at $68.93 a barrel, finishing at its lowest price since Dec. 10 amid speculation US President Donald Trump could soon lift sanctions on Russia, adding new supply to the global market

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