US stocks continued to face headwinds on Tuesday from the ongoing stalemate in Washington over raising the debt ceiling, with light volume showing the gridlock in Washington has made investors nervous. Major averages were mixed. The Nasdaq rose slightly as technology shares gained, while the Dow was the biggest loser largely due to a drop-off in 3M on disappointment over its quarterly earnings.
Just 3.25 billion shares had changed hands in composite trading as of 12:40 pm ET, another lower-than-average day of activity. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 57.67 points, or 0.46 percent, at 12,535.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1.66 points, or 0.12 percent, at 1,335.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.21 points, or 0.15 percent, at 2,847.01.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing stocks roughly four-to-three on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. Industrial stocks were among the worst performers, with the S&P industrials index down 1.7 percent. Ford Motor Co fell 1.3 percent to $13, even after the automaker's second-quarter earnings beat expectations.