Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Technology sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.37%, while the S&P 500 index lost 1.09%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.86%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 0.73% or 1.18 points to trade at 163.76 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 0.10% or 0.09 points to end at 86.95 and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) was down 0.12% or 0.17 points to 136.50 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 4.35% or 10.76 points to trade at 236.65 in late trade. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) declined 3.13% or 1.22 points to end at 37.80 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) shed 2.98% or 5.29 points to 172.48.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) which rose 6.20% to 156.31, Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) which was up 4.88% to settle at 171.45 and HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) which gained 3.92% to close at 101.45.
The worst performers were MetLife Inc (NYSE:MET) which was down 8.58% to 49.73 in late trade, Principal Financial Group Inc (NASDAQ:PFG) which lost 8.05% to settle at 68.50 and Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which was down 8.05% to 50.84 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Kazia Therapeutics Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:KZIA) which rose 22.63% to 5.690, Immuron Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IMRN) which was up 20.14% to settle at 8.29 and Bravo Brio Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:BBRG) which gained 18.64% to close at 3.50.
The worst performers were Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LTRPB) which was down 27.02% to 9.05 in late trade, Auris Medical Holding AG (NASDAQ:EARS) which lost 22.23% to settle at 0.383 and Ossen Innovation Co Ltd (NASDAQ:OSN) which was down 19.64% to 4.9100 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2505 to 627 and 84 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1857 fell and 681 advanced, while 107 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 7.01% to 14.81 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.26% or 3.50 to $1336.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1.80% or 1.18 to hit $64.38 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 1.26% or 0.87 to trade at $68.33 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.15% to 1.2400, while USD/JPY fell 0.15% to 108.79.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 89.03.