Mixed housing, consumer confidence, and corporate earnings put investors in a cautious mood at the start of the week.

Following the first two trading days this week, the Dow Jones was lower by 1.2% at 10,282.41, while the broader market indicators were in negative ground as well. The S&P 500 was down 1.3% at 1,094.60, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ decreased 1.4% to finish at 2,213.44.

A report from the Conference Board stated that confidence from shoppers took a surprising dip in February, marking the first time in three months that the monthly poll showed a decline. During the month, the consumer confidence index slipped nearly 11 points to a reading of 46, well below the revised reading in January of 56.5. On average, analysts were looking for the index to post a more modest decline to a reading of 55.

Another reading showed that consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions plunged from 25.2 in January to a reading of 19.4 in February. A guage which measures the outlook for the next six months also declined, falling from 77.3 to 63.8.

On the housing front, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released on Tuesday showed a 0.3% gain in December to a seasonally adjusted reading of 145.87. Despite posting a minimal gain from November’s reading, the current reading remains more than 3% off last December’s showing.

The reading also revealed that only five of the 20 cities surveyed showed a decline in home prices from November to December. The index sits more than 3% higher than the industries bottom that was set last May, but is 30% below its all-time high reached in May 2006. On a quarterly basis, U.S. home prices fell 2.5% during Q4 of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) announced on Tuesday that the nation’s banks posted a small profit during Q4, despite more than 700 banks being classified as troubled. During the quarter, the financial institutions posted a gain of $914M, in sharp contrast to the same period a year ago in which the banking industry posted a $37.8B loss.

Economic data due up for the remainder of the week includes New Home Sales, Durable Orders and Existing Home Sales reports for January, the FHFA Housing Price Index report for December, the Chicago PMI and the final reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report for February, weekly results for Initial Claims and Crude Inventories and the second estimate readings of GDP for the fourth quarter.