Walmart, Home Depot bounce as US stocks stagnate

Retail giants Wal-Mart and Home Depot jumped on solid earnings Tuesday, but the broader market finished little changed after a choppy session.

Better-than-expected earnings lifted Walmart shares 3.5 percent and Home Depot 4.4 percent, countering gloomy results last week from Macy's, Kohl's and some other retailers.

But the better results from retailers were not enough to keep alive positive momentum from Monday's gains in the US and Tuesday's advance in European bourses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 6.49 points (0.04 percent) at 17,489.50.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 2.75 (0.13 percent) to 2,050.44, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 1.40 (0.03 percent) to 4,986.02.

The US consumer price index rose 0.2 percent month on month in October, with key elements like health care and housing costs pushing higher in a potential sign of inflation picking up.

The Federal Reserve's industrial production index lost 0.2 points to 107.2 due mainly to the sharp contraction in the oil and coal mining sectors. But the manufacturing sector showed unexpected strength, jumping 0.4 points in the month.

"Investors don't really know which way to play this market," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.

TJX, parent of the discount department stores TJ Maxx and Marshall's, gained 3.9 percent after reporting earnings of 86 cents per share, a penny above expectations behind a 5.2 percent gain in revenues to $7.8 billion.

Dick's Sporting Goods dove 9.4 percent after projecting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.10-$1.25 per share, below the $1.43 expected by analysts.

Industrial gas company Airgas surged 29.4 percent on news it will be acquired by French rival Air Liquide for $13.4 billion.