By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- The S&P 500 moved off session lows Tuesday, led by consumer stocks as data on the health of the consumer wasn’t as bad as feared despite rampant inflation.
The S&P 500 fell 0.21%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.31%, or 103 points, and the Nasdaq fell 0.12%.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) led consumer discretionary higher, rising 5% despite Jefferies trimming its price on the e-commerce giant to $3,250 from $3,700, citing concerns about an economic slowdown.
Consumer confidence in the economy, however, hasn’t deteriorated as much as expected.
The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 106.4 in May from 108.6 in April, beating economists' forecast for a reading of 103.9.
Consumer stocks sensitive to China including Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) were also in ascendency as Shanghai ended its two-month long Covid-19 lockdowns.
Tech, meanwhile, cut the bulk of its intraday losses as the recent buying in big tech continued, though upside was kept in check by a climb in Treasury yields.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), were in positive territory, while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded just below the flatline.
Communication services was also among the top gaining sectors following a surge in DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH) after Truist upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, citing the potential for the company to become. a "nationwide" mobile carrier.
Energy cut its gains after oil prices slipped on reports that some OPEC members are considering suspending Russia’s participation in the oil-production deal. This could potentially pave the way for the other OPEC members including Saudi Arabia to increase output.
The news comes as Russia’s crude output is expected to fall after the European Union agreed on a ban on Russian oil imports.
In other news, AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) was flat after giving up some gains despite signs of a return to movie demand following a record-setting weekend box-office performance by “Top Gun: Maverick.”