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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were unable to find any momentum on Tues- day. The market drifted between gains and losses throughout the day, then headed steadily lower in the last hour of trading. Investors found some solace in strong results from Home Depot and Macy's. The enthusiasm was not enough, however, to offset an unex- pectedly steep decline in consumer confidence this month, due largely to bitter cold weather and winter storms that affected much of the country. ''The weather is having an impact on everything, from homes, vehicles to retail sales, but fortunately we expect that pent-up demand to return later this year,'' said Joseph Tanious, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds. The Dow Jones industri- al average lost 27.48 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,179.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.49 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,845.12 and the Nasdaq composite fell 5.38 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,287.59. Even the retailers, who have a tendency to blame the weather for poor results, had a valid point this time around. Macy's reported an 11 percent rise in fourth-quar- ter income that handedly beat analysts' expectations, but sales came up short due to the weather. The compa- ny said that at one time in January, 30 percent of its stores were closed because of inclement weather. Home Depot had a simi- lar story. The nation's largest home improvement retailer said profits fell 1 percent from a year ago, hampered by bad winter conditions. ''We don't like to use weather as an excuse but we think we probably lost $100 million in the month of Jan- uary,'' Home Depot's chief financial officer, Carol Tome, said in a conference call with investors. ''Atlanta was frozen, for example. It was tough here.'' Investors were able to forgive Macy's and Home Depot for missing analysts' sales expectations. Macy's rose $3.19, or 6 percent, to $56.25 and Home Depot closed up $3.11, or 4 per- cent, to $80.98. Investors were less for- giving about a weak con- sumer confidence report. The Conference Board's index of consumer confi- dence fell to 78.1 in Febru- ary from 80.7 the month before. That was below the 80.1 level economists polled by FactSet were expecting. The report is a closely watched indicator of how likely consumers are to spend money and keep the economy moving forward. The confidence slump was the latest sign in the last several weeks that the recent bout of cold weather has slowed the economy. The regions that had the biggest declines in confi- dence were in the middle of the storm earlier in this month that brought snow from Atlanta to Boston. ''Perhaps (confidence) would have done slightly better had the weather been less dismal,'' economists at the investment bank RBS wrote in a note to investors. Investors should expect more muddled days like this for the next few weeks, strategists say. Fourth-quarter earnings reports are mostly over. With Home Depot's results now out, all 30 members of the Dow have released earn- ings for this quarter. By the end of the week, 486 out of the 500 members of the S&P 500 will have reported their results. 8B Daily News – Wednesday, February 26, 2014 Your Opportunity To Meet Elected Officials & Candidates Red Bluff Community Center, 1500 S. Jackson Street Saturday, March 1, 2014 5:00 pm, Meet & Greet.....6:00 pm Dinner & Program $30.00 person Ticket Info: Sue Gallagher 530-384-2945 John Elshere 530-529-1238 tehamacountydemocrats@gmail.com Paid Political Advertisement California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, Keynote Speaker Tehama County Democrats "Support American Workers" Annual fundraiser Buffet dinner and Dessert Opportunity Drawings & Auction Published through an event co-sponsorship agreement with the N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY Stocks end lower after an up-and-down day Wall Street