Stocks end lower for fourth straight day

Wall Street racked up a fourth straight day of losses Tuesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 66.79 points, or 0.4%, to 15,334.59 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 4.42 points, or 0.3%, to 1,697.42.

The Nasdaq composite index bucked the trend and rose 2.97 points, or 0.1%, to 3,768.25.

Investors seemed mostly unimpressed by the latest economic reports on housing and consumer confidence.

Release of the latest Case Schiller housing report came a half-hour before the opening bell. It showed a moderate monthly increase in prices in 20 metro areas and a 12.4% increase over 12 months.

A half-hour after the start of the trading session came a report showing that in September confidence had dipped. The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said its index dropped to 79.7 from the August reading of 81.8.

Consumer confidence is closely watched because consumer spending accounts for 70% of U.S. economic activity. Confidence has grown since the Great Recession, but it hasn't hit a reading of 90, which typically accompanies a healthy economy.

On Monday, the Dow fell 0.3% to close at 15,401.38. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% to 1,701.84. The Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 3,765.29.

Benchmark oil for November delivery fell 24 cents to $103.35 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.16 to close at $103.59 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.65% from 2.7% Monday.

Stocks continue to be hampered as the approaching budget battle between the White House and Republican lawmakers has thrown an element of uncertainty at markets.

The government will reach its borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, by Oct. 1. If Congress doesn't raise that limit, the government won't be able to pay all its bills.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.1% to 14,732.61. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.8% to 23,179.04.

Regional benchmarks in Europe saw modest gains. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 0.2% to 6,571.46 while Germany's DAX rose 0.3% to 8,664.60. The CAC-40 in France ended 0.6% higher at 4,195.61.

Contributing: The Associated Press