LIVE MARKETS-Wall St pauses its upward climb to parse speeches by Trump, Powell

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WALL ST PAUSES ITS UPWARD CLIMB TO PARSE SPEECHES BY TRUMP, POWELL

U.S. stocks took a breather on Tuesday, easing in the wake of a string of all-time closing highs as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell advocated a balanced approach to monetary policy and U.S. President Donald Trump lambasted world leaders in a combative speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

All three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session lower, with the Nasdaq suffering the biggest drop as weakness among the "magnificent seven" group of megacap momentum stocks weighed on the tech-laden index.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 88.76 points, or 0.19%, to 46,292.78, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 36.79 points, or 0.55%, to 6,656.96 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 215.50 points, or 0.95%, to 22,573.47.

Two separate speeches, delivered by Trump and Powell, held investors' interest for much of the session.

Trump argued against immigration, climate change science, Palestinian statehood and other issues during his largely off-script address to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

Separately, the president raised the likelihood that a federal government shutdown could begin as soon next week after scrapping a meeting with top congressional Democrats to discuss government funding.

For his part, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will need to balance risks of elevated inflation against a weakening job market as it makes decisions going forward, sticking close to language used last week when the Fed implemented its first rate cut of the year. Powell's remarks echoed the sentiments of regional Fed presidents who said the impact of the Trump administration's tariffs and other policies is still being assessed.

The full effect of those policies is yet to be felt, said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its latest Economic Outlook Interim Report.

Economic data suggested U.S. business activity has continued to expand this month, but is losing some momentum.

On Wednesday, reports on mortgage demand and new home sales will provide a glimpse at the state of the U.S. housing market.

Here's your closing snapshot:

(Stephen Culp)

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