S&P 500 Index opens modestly lower, holds above 4,500

• Wall Street’s main indexes are posting modest losses on Tuesday.
• Technology shares are pushing lower after the opening bell.
• Energy stocks trade in the positive territory as oil consolidates latest gains.

Major equity indexes in the US opened modestly lower on Tuesday as investors seem to be looking to book their profits on the last trading day of August. As of writing, the S&P 500 was down 0.15% on the day at 4,521, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 0.15% at 35,354 and the Nasdaq Composite was falling 0.2% at 15,234.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Technology Index is losing 0.45% as the biggest decline. On the other hand, the Energy Index is up 0.3% despite the fact that the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is trading in the negative territory. 

Later in the session, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for August and the ISM Chicago’s Purchasing Managers’ Index will be looked upon for fresh impetus.

S&P 500 chart (daily)