Wall Street closes lower on weak telecom stocks despite strong retail earnings

NEW YORK: U.S. stocks ended down on Tuesday, slumping on a sharp decline in telecom stocks and weak housing starts data that overshadowed better-than-expected earnings from Walmart and Home Depot. AT&T Inc shed 5.8%, among the biggest percentage decliners in the benchmark S&P 500.

NEW YORK: U.S. stocks ended down on Tuesday, slumping on a sharp decline in telecom stocks and weak housing starts data that overshadowed better-than-expected earnings from Walmart and Home Depot.

AT&T Inc shed 5.8%, among the biggest percentage decliners in the benchmark S&P 500. It extended declines from Monday, when the telecoms firm said it would cut its dividend payout ratio as a result of its $43 billion media asset deal with Discovery Inc.