Stocks Waver in Midday Trading on Wall Street

U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and losses in midday trading Tuesday, a day after the market closed at record highs. Investors were sizing up the latest crop of company earnings and new data on home construction and industrial production. Stocks of health-care and real-estate companies fell more than the rest of the market. Technology stocks led the gainers.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell less than 1 point to 2,401 as of 12:24 p.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 17 points, or 0.1 percent, to 20,999. The Nasdaq composite index was up 11 points, or 0.2 percent, at 6,160. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new highs on Monday.

SPRUCED UP: Home Depot topped expectations for profit and revenue in the first quarter. The home-improvement retailer also raised its profit outlook for the year. The stock gained $2.10, or 1.3 percent, to $159.43.

DIALED IN: Sina surged 17.8 percent after the online and mobile media services company’s latest quarterly results beat Wall Street’s forecasts, thanks partly to a sharp pickup in online advertising sales. The stock added $15 to $99.04.

CRAFTY: Etsy vaulted 21.6 percent after two private equity firms disclosed a combined 8 percent stake in the online crafts site. The stock climbed $2.44 to $13.76.

DEFLATED: Dick’s Sporting Goods slumped 13.1 percent after the retailer reported quarterly results that missed analysts’ expectations. The stock slid $6.21 to $41.36.

UNFASHIONABLE: The TJX Cos. fell 2.7 percent after the apparel and home fashions retailer’s quarterly results fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts. The stock lost $2.06 to $74.84.

DISAPPOINTING RESULTS: Staples slid 4 percent after the office supply chain reported revenue for the latest quarter that fell far short of what Wall Street analysts were expecting. The stock lost 37 cents to $8.95.

ECONOMIC DATA: The Commerce Department said residential construction fell for a second straight month in April, pushing activity to the lowest point in five months. Housing starts slid 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units. The weakness was led by a big drop in construction of apartments, a volatile sector. Separately, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production at U.S. factories, mines and utilities shot up 1 percent in April from March. That’s the biggest gain since February 2014 and the third straight monthly gain. The increase was more than twice what economists had expected.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was down 2 cents to at $48.83 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was up 9 cents at $51.91 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar declined to 113.21 yen from Monday’s 113.68 yen. The euro gained to $1.1073 from $1.0978.

TREASURY YIELDS: Bond prices rose. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.32 percent.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX was flat, while France’s CAC-40 was down 0.2 percent. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.9 percent. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent, and Seoul’s Kospi added 0.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.1 percent.