Investing.com – Wall Street continued to pull back from last week’s record highs on Tuesday, as investors balked at pouring more money into equities ahead of some key events for market risk.
At 11:48AM ET (15:48GMT), the Dow Jones slipped 9 points, or 0.04%, the S&P 500 dropped 2 points, or 0.08%, while the Nasdaq Composite gave up 2 points, or 0.03%.
Stocks dropped further ahead of the a big day for markets on Thursday that will include former FBI Director James Comey's testimony to a Senate committee over conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump and whether Trump attempted to interfere with any investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn, the U.K.’s general election and a European Central Bank meeting.
With stock prices already at dizzying heights, investor sentiment remained skewed toward safe-haven assets on Tuesday such as the Japanese yen, gold and Treasures ahead of the key risk events.
At 11:53AM ET (15:53GMT), the dollar fell 1% against the yen to 109.36 on Tuesday, its lowest level since April 21.
Meanwhile, gold futures rose to a session peak of $1,298.65 a troy ounce, a level not seen since just after Trump was elected. It was last at $1,296.15, up $13.45, or about 1%.
Elsewhere, the U.S. 10-Year bond fell 3.8 basis points to 2.142%, a seven-month low.
On a light data calendar the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), in another sign of labor market strength, showed that job openings unexpectedly rose to a record high in April.
In company news, Hd Supply (NASDAQ:HDS) sank more than 16% as the industrial distributor announced the sale of a unit for just $2.5 billion.
Earnings reports were mixed with shares in Thor Industries (NYSE:THO) jumping more than 10% after the RV maker’s beat consensus, while Michaels (NASDAQ:MIK) slumped more than 7% after the home decor retailer slashed its guidance.
Meanwhile, oil registered choppy trade on Tuesday as investors continued to weigh the impact that the diplomatic rift between Qatar and several Arab states including Saudi Arabia could have on efforts by OPEC to tighten the market.
Qatar's foreign minister said Tuesday that Doha was ready for mediation efforts after the Arab world's biggest powers severed ties with it, adding that Qatar's ruler had delayed a speech in order to give Kuwait a chance to ease regional tensions.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.49% to $47.63 by 11:55AM ET (15:55GMT), while Brent oil rose 0.22% to $49.58.