U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, continuing a three-week losing trend, as bond rates surged, raising fears the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening campaign will end in pain for the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 50.71 points to break for lunch at 31,369.15, climbing off lows of the day boosted by defensive stocks such as Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola.
The S&P 500 tallied 12.69 points to 3,936.98
The NASDAQ Composite eked up 9.67 points to 11,640.53.
The moves came after August ISM data Tuesday morning was stronger than expected, coming in at 56.9 versus expectations of 55.5. The report follows Friday's jobs release, which also beat Wall Street's expectations, showing a more solid U.S. economy than anticipated.
Treasury prices withered, raising yields to 3.34% from Friday's 3.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices gained 62 cents to $87.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices staggered $8.60 to $1,714.00 U.S. an ounce.