At 10:48 a.m. ET, the Dow is down 104 points (0.58%), the S&P 500 is lower by 17 points (0.8%), and the Nasdaq is off 49 points (0.95%).
After rallying to new all-time highs, the Dow and S&P 500 have leveled off over the last few trading days. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has traded in its tightest range in several years, depending on how you look at it.
Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial, noted that the index has not closed up or down 0.50% in 12 days, the longest streak since at least August 1995.
Pfizer led declines on the Dow with a 3% drop even after reporting better-than-expected earnings and reaffirming its full-year forecast.
The Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar after Japan's cabinet approved a new economic stimulus package on Tuesday worth more than 28 trillion yen ($275 billion). The country's use of fiscal stimulus is considered a major experiment in the effectiveness of this policy approach in a developed economy.
Crude oil is higher, after falling below $40 for the first time since April on Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures in New York rose 1.3% to $40.61 per barrel.
In US economic data, personal income and spending rose in line with expectations in June, by 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.
Also, auto sales data for July are rolling in throughout the day. So far, the big three automakers - Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler - missed analysts' estimates.