MARKET SNAPSHOT: Weak Housing Data Helps Push U.S. Stocks Lower

By Anora Mahmudova and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks drifted lower on Tuesday as weaker-than-expected housing data weighed on investor sentiment. Investors will have more economic data to digest as manufacturing and consumer confidence reports also are set to be released.

It's been a bumpy ride for stocks. Tuesday marks the end of the month and the third quarter, where the S&P 500 has seen a drop of 1.4% in September, while managing to eke out a slight gain of 0.7% for the quarter. Why you should ignore October crash warnings

In Thursday's trading action. the S&P 500 (SPX) was flat at 1,977.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 8 points to 17,080. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) was flat at 4,505.67

All gravy up to week's end: Home price data came in weaker than expected. Annual home price growth slowed down in July to the slowest pace since late 2012, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index. Also coming, Chicago PMI data, due at 9:45 and consumer confidence for September due at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Federal Reserve Gov. Jerome Powell is slated to speak on a panel on 'Government debt management at the zero lower bound' at the Brookings Institution at 10:45 a.m. Eastern.

Earlier markets got a lift after data showed eurozone inflation hit a five-year low in September, and disappointing German jobless data, both which arguably could add pressure for the European Central Bank to do the market's bidding and launch full-scale quantitative easing soon. The ECB meets on Thursday, but economists widely expect the bank to keep more aggressive policy measures on hold for now and instead provide details on its program for purchasing asset-backed securities, which was announced at the September meeting.

The Thursday ECB meeting will be one of the more closely watched for markets. The other major event on deck is Friday's nonfarm payrolls, where markets want to see strong, but not overly strong, jobs growth.

Stocks to watch: Move (MOVE) leapt 37% after News Corp. (NWSA) (NWS) said it would buy the online real-estate business in an all-cash deal for $21 a share. News Corp. owns MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.

EBay (EBAY) shares leapt 7.7% after the firm announced plans to spin off PayPal in a transaction expected to be completed in the second half of 2015.

Ford (F) shares were under pressure after cutting its full-year earnings outlook on expectations it will lose $1.2 billion in Europe this year.

Walgreen(WAG) shares were slightly off after the drug-store chain reported quarterly profit and sales that matched expectations on Tuesday.

Supervalu (SVU) shares fell 1.8% after itit found more data-capturing malware at stores on Monday.

Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (CPRX) is up 16% after the biotech said late Monday a late-stage study showed its Firdapse treatment benefited sufferers of an autoimmune disorder that causes muscle weakness. Read more about the day's notable stocks in Movers & Shakers.

Other markets: Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.3% as pro-democracy protests continued, though many worried about a possible crackdown. Europe stocks pushed higher on the heels of downbeat data. The euro (EURUSD) pushed lower against the dollar after eurozone inflation data.

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