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Stocks waver on housing, consumer confidence data

The latest batch of mixed economic data is making it difficult for stocks to take direction.

Stocks wavered early Tuesday after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 53.1 in September, down from 54.5 in August, and much lower than the reading of 57 that economists had been expecting.

The private research group attributed the decline to concerns about the labor market, saying consumers are still worried about losing their jobs.

That disappointing report was tempered by data showing home prices rose for a third month in a row in July. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities showed home prices rising 1.2 percent from June. Though home prices are still 13.3 percent below the same month a year ago, the annual declines have slowed in all 20 cities for the sixth straight month.

In morning trading, the Dow Jones industrials fell 2.34, or 0.02 percent, to 9,787.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.13, or 0.1 percent, to 1,064.11, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.14, or 0.1 percent, to 2,129.60.