Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Utilities sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.09%, while the S&P 500 index lost 1.24%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 1.54%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which rose 0.26% or 0.07 points to trade at 28.93 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 0.22% or 0.25 points to end at 116.30 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 0.08% or 0.04 points to 51.83 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which lost 3.08% or 1.97 points to trade at 61.93 in late trade. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 2.39% or 3.30 points to end at 134.78 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shed 1.97% or 0.75 points to 37.27.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) which rose 3.67% to 30.11, Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) which was up 1.81% to settle at 95.62 and Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) which gained 1.25% to close at 71.38.
The worst performers were Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) which was down 24.81% to 138.99 in late trade, Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) which lost 11.41% to settle at 27.91 and Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) which was down 7.56% to 35.10 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Biostar Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:BSPM) which rose 61.81% to 5.5500, Nova Lifestyle I (NASDAQ:NVFY) which was up 19.02% to settle at 4.380 and Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TKAI) which gained 16.77% to close at 1.88.
The worst performers were Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII) which was down 28.73% to 9.18 in late trade, Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) which lost 24.81% to settle at 138.99 and TPI Composites Inc (NASDAQ:TPIC) which was down 17.65% to 18.48 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2761 to 423 and 61 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2063 fell and 455 advanced, while 83 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 14.65% to 15.34.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 0.47% or 5.90 to $1254.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 1.01% or 0.52 to hit $50.83 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 1.19% or 0.63 to trade at $52.51 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.72% to 1.1056, while USD/JPY fell 0.15% to 103.44.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.77% at 97.66.