us stocks closed lower on tuesday as investors digested a mixed picture of corporate earnings along with data suggesting a slowing economy and a consumer thats under pressure from inflation on monday the dow jones industrial average rose 66 points or 02 to 33875 the sp 500 increased 4 points or 009 to 4137 and the nasdaq composite dropped 35 points or 029 to 12037 investors were taking a riskoff approach tuesday one week ahead of the federal reserves next meeting on interest rates a wave of quarterly corporate results that have been rolling in companies presenting their results on tuesday included mcdonalds mcd verizon vz gm gm pepsico pep ups ups raytheon rtx  halliburton hal visa v and texas instruments txn i think earnings are really the goto excuse for todays pullback said timothy chubb chief investment officer at girard in a phone interview weve seen a significant amount of earnings revisions lower coming into this earnings season we obviously got a pretty broadbased update for companies in various sectors as opposed to predominantly financial companies recently said chubb so far the results are painting a mixed picture of strengths and weaknesses for companies and the markets they target for example mcdonalds  a fast food giant with a window into consumers wallets  beat expectations on metrics including earnings per share and samestore sales at the same time 3m announced a restructuring plan tuesday that will cut 6000 jobs as the company navigates significant weakness in consumer electronics and consumer retail anxiety about the banking sector continues to lurk after shares of first republic bank frc slumped almost 50 on news of huge deposit flight earlier in the year the spdr sp regional banking etfkre was off 41 the transportation sector was hit after ups delivered disappointing earnings results which might drive home more worries about a recession if theres softening demand to transport goods ups shares were down almost 10 tuesday some investors profittaking ahead of big tech earnings may have also contributed to the stock selloff on tuesday said chubb alphabetgoogl the parent company of google and microsoftmsft both saw shares up in afterhours trading after reporting earnings that topped expectations after the close some analysts cited revived concerns about an economic downturn amid anxiety about the budgetary and debt ceiling debate gridlock in washington dc read also heres how anxiety over the us debt ceiling may play out in markets if the congress doesnt address the debt ceiling problem in time a default on us treasury would irreparably raise the countrys borrowing costs treasury secreary janet yellen said tuesday in addition investors also got a look at the housing market on tuesday morning the caseshiller home price index rose 01 in february thats the first increase for the index in eight months new home sales climbed to a 683000 annual rate in march compared to the revised 623000 from the previous month despite higher mortgage rates for now and into the near term at least noted craig lazzara managing director at sp dji although forecasts are mixed so far the federal reserve seems focused on its inflation reduction targets which suggests that interest rates may remain elevated at least in the nearterm he added whats more consumer confidence in april fell to a ninemonth low cramped by worries of a lurking recession and a loosening labor market the 1013 reading in the conference board index was lower than the 104 number that economist were predicting investors are assessing the extent to which nervousness about what may lie ahead for economies is holding back marketing budgets and delaying purchases by shoppers said susannah streeter head of money and markets hargreaves lansdown the fed is scheduled to meet next tuesday and wednesday on its benchmark interest rate traders are wagering theres an 84 chance of another 25 basis point increase according to the cme fedwatch tool whatever is next dont count on the fed backing off its high interest rates anytime soon according to meb faber cofounder and the chief investment officer at cambria investment management as inflation rates ebb away from fourdecade highs faber says its likely inflation rates will go lower in the summer before nudging higher at the end of the year apart from the lessons learned from the great depression faber said the biggest lesson for central bankers was the way to handle  and mishandle  the hot inflation burned in the 1970s for fed officials that ptsd is very front of mind he said these guys are very aware and reticent be labeled as the idiots who let inflation come roaring back he said this content was created by marketwatch which is operated by dow jones  co marketwatch is published independently from dow jones newswires and the wall street journal