NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Wall Street moved slightly lower in early trading Tuesday, as housing starts trailed economists' estimates, overshadowing better-than-estimated earnings.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that housing starts rose 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 590,000 last month from a 587,000 pace in August that was lower than previously estimated.
The downbeat housing data wiped out the market sentiment spurred by rosy corporate earnings.
Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, posted third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates and issued a full-year earnings forecast that exceeded the highest prediction.
Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest pharmaceutical company, also reported that lower expenses boosted its earnings.
Better-than-expected earnings reports from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN) late Monday also helped restore investor confidence.
Internet company Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and student lender SLM Corp. (NYSE:SLM) are scheduled to release earnings late Tuesday.
The Dow Jones fell 14.36 to 10,077.80. Broader indexes also went lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 2.22 to 1,095.69 and the Nasdaq slipped 2.35 to 2,173.97.
