Wall Street set to snap 3-day win streak as financials weigh

US stocks eased on Tuesday after three sessions of strong gains, weighed by declines in financial companies, while better-than-expected results propped up retailer Home Depot.

After a stormy start to the month on worsening trade tensions, the three main indexes have rebounded sharply, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq erasing last week's losses on signs Germany and China are considering stimulus.

"Today just looks like a digestion day of recent gains and there is not a lot of news that would swing the market wildly in either direction," said Aaron Clark, portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management in Boston, Massachusetts.

Losses on the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 indexes were tempered by a 3.9% rise in Home Depot Inc, after the company's quarterly profit beat estimates. Smaller rival Lowe's Companies Inc, due to report later this week, gained 1.9%.

Shares of Netflix Inc were the biggest drag on the S&P 500, losing 3% after Walt Disney Co announced its streaming service would launch in Canada and the Netherlands on November.

The S&P 500 banks index slipped 1% and the broader financial sector fell 0.91% as US Treasury yields slipped amid concerns about Italy's government and Britain's tumultuous exit from the European Union.

All eyes this week will be on Wednesday's release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting and Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Friday at the Jackson Hole central bankers' conference.

Powell's remarks will be closely monitored for hints if more policy easing is in store, against the backdrop of an ongoing trade war and growing fears of recession, signaled by the inversion of the US yield curve last week.

"I don't think Powell will have an overly dovish tone compared to what the markets are expecting ... The consumer, which is by far the largest piece of the US economy, is still pretty healthy," Clark said.

At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 77.52 points, or 0.30%, at 26,058.27, the S&P 500 was down 13.33 points, or 0.46%, at 2,910.32. The Nasdaq Composite was down 28.28 points, or 0.35%, at 7,974.53.

All the major S&P sectors were trading lower, with the energy sector posting the steepest loss of 0.93% weighed by lower oil prices.

Medtronic Plc gained 3.7%, and was among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500, after the medical device maker raised its full year adjusted profit forecast.

TJX Cos Inc fell 4% after off-price retailer posted same-store quarterly sales that fell short of estimates for the first time in more than a year.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.89-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 17 new highs and 33 new lows.