(RTTNews) - Stocks closed lower by slim margins on Tuesday, as the day's light volume limited reaction to a batch of largely lackluster economic data. The major averages all closed in negative territory, offsetting a small portion of yesterday's strong gains. The Dow edged down by about 17 points after ending the previous session at its best closing level in over a year.

Initial weakness in the equity markets came as traders reacted negatively to the Commerce Department's downward revision to the pace of GDP growth in the third quarter. The adjustment was slightly sharper economists had anticipated, although the data continued to show growth in the economy.

The report said that GDP increased by an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter compared to the 3.5 percent growth that had been reported last month. Economists had been expecting the pace of GDP growth to be revised down to about 2.9 percent.

Further, Standard and Poor's said that home prices in the twenty major metropolitan areas in the U.S. decreased at a slower annual rate in the month of September, but the pace of decline was still slightly faster than forecast.

Stocks remained negative despite the release of a Conference Board report in mid-morning trading showing that the consumer confidence index rose to 49.5 in November from an upwardly revised 48.7 in October. The increase surprised economists, who had expected the index to edge down to 47.5 from the 47.7 originally reported for the previous month.

This afternoon, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of the November Federal Open Market Committee Meeting, revealing a general consensus that a weak labor market will keep inflation subdued as the economy recovers.

Looking ahead, the Fed unemployment projections remained relatively unchanged from the June projections. The central bank revealed expected unemployment levels of 9.3 percent to 9.7 percent for 2010 and 8.2 percent to 8.6 percent for 2011.

With the labor market continuing to weigh on the economy, the committee agreed to keep interest rates at near zero levels for an extended period.

While the Dow and the S&P 500 briefly peeked above the unchanged line in the latter part of the trading day, the major averages all closed in the red. The Dow closed down by 17.24 points or 0.2 percent at 10,433.71, the Nasdaq fell by 6.83 points or 0.3 percent to 2,169.18 and the S&P 500 slipped by 0.59 points or 0.1 percent to 1,105.65.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly lower on Tuesday, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index falling by 1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.5 percent.

The major European markets also moved moderately lower, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and German DAX Index both falling by 0.6 percent while the French CAC 40 Index lost 0.8 percent.

In the bond markets, treasuries moved higher following the strong results of today's five-year note auction. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, closed at 3.317 percent, posting a loss of 4.7 basis points.

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