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UnitedHealth ( UNH ) gains on Q1 profit beat

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Fed Chair Jerome Powell sees higher rates for longer

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Indexes: Dow up 0.17%, S&P down 0.21%, Nasdaq lost 0.12%

(Updates to 16:10 ET)

By Chibuike Oguh

April 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks ended lower in

choppy trading on Tuesday as Treasury yields climbed, with

investors weighing the likely path of interest rates in a

resilient U.S. economy with persistent inflation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday recent

inflation data has not given policymakers enough confidence to

ease credit soon, noting that the U.S. central bank may need to

keep rates higher for longer than previously thought.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average got a boost from

UnitedHealth Group's ( UNH ) better-than-expected quarterly

results. Real estate and utilities were the biggest drags on the

S&P 500, while technology gave the largest boost.

"People are trying to balance this two-sided narrative: U.S.

economic growth, which looks really good, and at the same time

the inflation picture and interest rates, which will eventually

be problematic for the equity market," said James St. Aubin,

chief investment officer at Sierra Mutual Funds in California.

A report on Monday showed retail sales grew more than

expected in March, a sign of U.S. economic resilience that

helped push benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields

to five-month highs on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 63.86 points,

or 0.17%, to 37,798.97, the S&P 500 lost 10.41 points, or

0.21%, to 5,051.41 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 19.77

points, or 0.12%, to 15,865.25.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are nearly 4% off from record

high levels reached last month.

Shares of Morgan Stanley ( MS ) rose 2.5% after its

first-quarter profit beat estimates on resurging income from

investment banking.

Bank of America ( BAC ) dropped 3.5% after the lender posted

lower first-quarter profits as its loan loss provisions grew.

Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) slipped 2.1% as the drugmaker's

revenue missed analysts' estimates after sales from its

blockbuster psoriasis drug, Stelara, fell short of expectations.

Tesla slipped 2.7% a day after falling over 5% on

news that the EV marker plans to lay off more than 10% of its

global workforce.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.25-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, which had 23 new highs and 175 new lows. On the

Nasdaq, 1,451 stocks rose and 2,764 fell as declining issues

outnumbered advancers by a 1.9-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and eight new

lows while the Nasdaq recorded 30 new highs and 362 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.48 billion shares, compared

with the 11.05 billion average for the last 20 days.