The major market indices retreated Tuesday amid mixed economic signals, including a surprise jump in new home sales and a drop in consumer confidence levels.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91.34, or 0.9 percent, to 10,151.13. Also falling 0.9 percent was the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which lost 10.36 to settle at 1,151.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index was off 23.34, or 1.2 percent, to 1,927.44.

New home sales in March rose to an annualized rate of 1.43 million units, according to the Commerce Department, exceeding the 1.23 million units of the prior month and well above analysts’ falling expectations of 1.19 million units.

And for the second day in a row, a barrel of light crude fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange, losing 37 cents and ending the day at $54.20.

But the optimism generated by the housing numbers and crude prices was tempered by the latest consumer confidence figures from the Conference Board, whose index fell to 97.7 in April from 103 in March. Analysts also noted many investors were sitting on the sidelines in anticipation of next week’s decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates.

Among local movers, Stamps.com Inc., which sells postage on the Internet, gained $3.08, or 18.5 percent, to $19.74 after announcing that it was bringing back its program that allows customers to design their own stamps from digital images.

Hilton Hotels Corp. saw its shares rise $0.36, or 1.63 percent, to $22.39 after releasing first quarter results that showed its net income rose 73 percent as increasing business travel allowed the company to boost room rates.

On the down side, Arrowhead Research Corp. lost $0.43, or 15.36 percent, to end the day at $2.37, after announcing it plans to redeem its outstanding redeemable warrants to purchase common stock. The company reported that so far 1.7 million of its 13.8 million in original warrants have been exercised, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.