U.S. stocks finished lower on Tuesday as selling pressure in Technology, Basic Materials and Industrials weighed on major indexes.
At the close on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.30%. The S&P 500 declined 0.38% and the NASDAQ Composite lost 0.74% by the end of the session.
Top and bottom movers on the Dow
Within the Dow Jones Industrial Average, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) led advancers, rising 1.89% - up 7.50 points to finish at 405.12. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) added 1.48%, gaining 3.94 points to close at 270.87. Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) also finished higher, up 1.41% or 5.58 points to 400.78.
Decliners on the Dow included NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which fell 5.47% or 9.78 points to 168.89 at the close. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) slipped 3.05% or 1.22 points to finish at 38.67. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 2.39% - down 14.31 points to 584.57.
S&P 500 movers
On the S&P 500, Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR) was the session's strongest performer among large caps, jumping 10.61% to end at 134.06. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) rose 8.31% to close at 224.64, while EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) gained 4.67% to finish at 164.14.
At the other end of the S&P 500 leaderboard, Skydance Corporation (NYSE:SKYD) fell 7.59% to 8.04. Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) lost 6.75% to settle at 250.83, and First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) declined 5.55% to close at 180.98.
NASDAQ session extremes
The NASDAQ Composite recorded several very large percentage moves among smaller-cap names. SMX Security Matters Ord Shs (NASDAQ:SMX) surged 105.88% to 19.25. PepGen Ltd (NASDAQ:PEPG) climbed 92.89% to 4.61, and INLIF Ltd (NASDAQ:INLF) rose 80.46% to finish at 0.55.
Some issues posted dramatic declines. NextNRG Inc (NASDAQ:NXXT) plunged 92.85% to 0.19, Lichen International Ltd (NASDAQ:LICN) fell 86.33% to 0.04, and iHeartMedia Inc (NASDAQ:IHRT) tumbled 65.03% to 0.62. Each of those three securities fell to all-time low levels in the session.
Breadth and market internals
On the NYSE, falling issues outnumbered advancers by 1,904 to 963, with 60 stocks unchanged. On the Nasdaq, 2,253 issues declined while 1,221 advanced and 134 were unchanged.
Volatility, commodities and currencies
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.31% to 19.46.
In commodities trading, December Gold Futures slipped 1.91% or 78.58 to $4,035.92 a troy ounce. December Crude oil fell 0.48% or 0.42, settling at $86.43 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract lost 0.65% or 0.60 to trade at $91.97 a barrel.
In foreign exchange, EUR/USD was down 0.53% to 1.12, while USD/JPY rose 0.53% to 158.74. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.60% at 102.14.
This session presented a mix of steady gains in several large-cap stocks alongside steep drops in both mid- and small-cap names, including several that reached record lows during the trading day.