Nasdaq, S&P, and Dow are muted after housing starts come in lower

Wall Street’s major market averages were muted on Friday, after housing starts and building permits in July surprised to the downside.

Early on and the S&P 500 (SP500), the Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND), and the Dow (DJI) were all near even.

The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) fell 1 basis point to 3.990%. The 2-year yield (US2Y) fell 2 basis points to 4.07%.

Housing starts and building permits came in lower than expected in July.

Friday’s decline comes a day after Wall Street closed higher as economic data and upbeat comments from retail giant Walmart (WMT) helped ease recession worries.

Retail sales bounced back in July and initial jobless claims inched down.

“The U.S. middle-income consumer is doing just fine, with retail sales data showing little fear of unemployment and a willingness to indulge in the national pastime of spending money,” UBS’ Paul Donovan said.

Investor sentiment was also buoyed by Walmart (WMT) CFO John Rainey’s statement that the retailer was “not projecting a recession.” WMT also reported stronger-than-expected Q2 results and raised its full-year guidance.

On the economic front, the consumer sentiment report drifted up in August. The August University of Michigan consumer sentiment index came in at 67.8 versus the 67.0 consensus figure and the 66.4 reading in July.