Wall Street posts small losses in early trade

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day relatively quiet on Tuesday as markets are assessing the latest data from the United States. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is losing 0.4% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are down 0.15% and 0.2% respectively.

The U.S. Census Bureau today reported that durable goods orders in February declined by 1.6% on a monthly basis. "Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.1 percent.  Excluding defense, new orders decreased 1.9 percent," the publication further read.

Meanwhile, following Monday's rally, the 10-year T-bond yield struggled to push higher and stays in the negative territory on Tuesday, suggesting that markets are moderately risk-averse. Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, Materials is leading the gains by adding 0.55% and Consumer Staples is underperforming with a loss of 0.5%.