Consumer stocks were mixed late Tuesday afternoon with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) increasing 0.3% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) falling 2.6%.

In corporate news, General Motors' (GM) previous recall of nearly 600,000 vehicles sold in the US is the subject of a recall query over the adequacy of the remedy launched by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over complaints of engine failure following GM's prescribed "fix" of the problem, Reuters reported. GM shares were down 3.8%.