U.S. stocks ended lower Tuesday as a renewed decline in oil prices weighed on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 109.85 points, or 0.64 percent, to 16,964.10. The S&P 500 lost 22.50 points, or 1.12 percent, to 1,979.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 59.43 points, or 1.26 percent, to 4,648.83. The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery moved down 1.4 U. S. dollars to settle at 36.5 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery decreased 1.19 dollars to close at 39.65 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Oil prices tumbled Tuesday on profit-taking after a two-day solid rally, with both U.S. oil and Brent crude falling over 3 percent. Dragged by the diving oil prices, the energy sector, the biggest laggard among the S&P 500's ten sectors, slumped 4.13 percent Tuesday. Oil prices rose around 10 percent in the past two trading days as Saudi Arabia and Russia announced recently that they would halt production increases, and encourage other major producers to follow suit. There is no major economic data due out Tuesday.
Overseas, China's exports in dollar-denominated terms slumped more than 25 percent year-over-year in February, well below market consensus and logging the sharpest drop since May 2009, according to the figures from the General Administration of Customs. Chinese shares struggled to stay in positive territory Tuesday after drastic fluctuations, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index extending its winning streak into a sixth day. European equities decreased broadly Tuesday as oil prices plunged. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell 0.88 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index lost 0. 92 percent.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose 7.61 percent to end at 18.67 Tuesday.
In other markets, the U.S. dollar gained Tuesday as market expected the Federal Reserve to continue the interest rate hike this year. In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1007 dollars from 1.1012 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 112.57 Japanese yen, lower than 113.28 yen of the previous session.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell slightly on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar showed strength, despite weaker U.S. equities. The most active gold contract for April delivery inched down 1. 1 dollars, or 0.09 percent, to settle at 1,262.90 dollars per ounce.
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