US stocks end mixed amid tumbling Walgreens shares

US stocks ended mixed on Tuesday as the market was in check by a steep sell-off in shares of Walgreens, the country's biggest standalone drugstore chain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 79.29 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 26,179.13. The S&P 500 was up 0.05 points, or 0.0017 per cent, to 2,867.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 19.78 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 7,848.69, Xinhua reported.

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance plunged 12.8 per cent at the close, leading the decliners in the 30-stock index. The Dow component on Tuesday reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates. The firm also slashed its full-year earnings guidance for 2019.

The S&P 500 closed roughly flat, as the solid gains in real estate, communication services and materials mainly offset the losses in consumer staples and energy.

Shares of Facebook rallied more than 3 per cent, contributing to the Nasdaq.

On the economic front, new orders for US manufactured durable goods decreased 1.6 per cent in February after three consecutive monthly increases, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, shipments of manufactured durable goods increased 0.2 per cent in February, following a 0.4 per cent January decrease.

--IANS

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