Stocks remained mixed in midday trading on Tuesday, with financials performing well but commodities dragging major U.S. indexes into the red.
At noon, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 47 points or 0.4 per cent, to 12,221. The broader S&P 500 was down 5 points or 0.4 per cent, to 1327.
Financials were the strongest subindex, rising 0.1 per cent. Consumer stocks were essentially flat after the Commerce Department reported that retail sales in January rose just 0.3 per cent, missing expectations.
Meanwhile, energy stocks fell 1 per cent and materials fell 0.8 per cent, following concerns about rising inflation.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 29 points or 0.2 per cent, to 13,940.
Financials rose 0.5 per cent and industrials rose 0.4 per cent. Commodity producers differed from their U.S. counterparts though, and stayed in positive territory: materials rose 0.1 per cent and energy stocks rose 0.2 per cent.
However, consumer discretionary stocks, consumer staples and information technology stocks fell 0.6 per cent each.
David Berman