New York - Most US stocks fell Tuesday as consumer confidence dropped for the second straight month. The private Conference Board's index stood at 47.7 in October, down 5.7 points from the previous month. Rising unemployment played "a major role in this grimmer assessment," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's research centre.
A record 44-billion-dollar auction of US Treasury debt also weighed on markets as a sign that investors are still reluctant to take chances on the open market, preferring the safety of government debt.
International Business Machines Corp helped push markets higher after its board agreed to buy back 5 billion dollars in stock.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 14.21 points, or 0.14 per cent, closing at 9,882.17. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 Index dropped 3.54 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 1,063.41. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 25.76 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 2,116.09.
The US currency climbed against the euro to 67.57 euro cents from 67.28 euro cents on Monday. The dollar fell against the Japanese currency to 91.83 yen from 92.24 yen.
