Stocks edged lower on Tuesday as the S&P 500 wrapped up its seventh-straight month of gains at just below all-time highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 39.11 points to end the day at 35,360.73. Nike was one of the biggest losers in the Dow, falling nearly 2%. Materials stocks including Nucor and chemic company Dow also struggled.
The S&P 500 eased back 6.11 points from Monday's record to 4,522.68
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 6.65 points, to 15,259.24.
Tuesday marked the last trading day of August, and major averages posted solid gains for the period. The S&P 500 rose about 3% this month, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ climbed roughly 4% for its third winning month in a row. The blue-chip Dow lagged but still added more than 1%.
The strong run for the S&P 500 has come even as the delta variant of Covid-19 has raised concerns about the path for the economic recovery. On Tuesday, Google-parent Alphabet pushed back its voluntary return to office to January from mid-October.
The S&P 500 was split roughly even between rising and falling stocks on Tuesday.
Zoom shares fell about 16% on Tuesday after the video-conferencing software company showed slowing revenue growth in the second quarter, weighting on the NASDAQ. Shares of Apple also declined, but Amazon's stock rose 1% to help offset those losses for the broader markets.
Shares of Wells Fargo fell more than 5% in afternoon trading after Bloomberg News reported that the bank could face further sanctions as regulators are upset about the pace of progress in compensating victims of Wells Fargo's previous scandals
On Tuesday, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index showed that prices were up 18.6% year over year in June. An August consumer confidence report from the Conference Board showed a larger-than-expected decline.
On the political front, the Pentagon said the U.S. has finished its evacuation efforts from Kabul's airport, effectively ending America's longest war.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were lower, raising yields to 1.31% from Monday's 1.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 71 cents to $68.50 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $4.90 to $1,817 U.S. an ounce.
S&P Enjoys 7th-Straight Monthly Gain Despite Tuesday Loss