Dow And S&P 500 Fall To New Two-Month Closing Lows

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved notably lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, offsetting the rebound seen in the previous session. Worries about the outlook for monetary policy weighed on the markets along with renewed concerns about the situation in Ukraine.

After helping to lead the markets higher in the previous session, energy stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside on the day. The NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index tumbled by 1.8 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

The pullback by energy stocks came amid a notable decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for September delivery falling $0.91 to a six-month low of $97.38 a barrel.

Despite the drop by the price of crude oil, airline stocks also saw significant weakness amid the geopolitical concerns. The NYSE Arca Airline Index fell by 1.5 percent to a two-month closing low.

Considerable weakness was also visible among utilities stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Utilities Average. With the loss, the average extended a recent downward move and hit its lowest closing level in over two months.

Electronic storage, steel, and semiconductor stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages closed firmly in the red, with the Dow and the S&P 500 setting new two-month closing lows. The Dow tumbled 139.81 points or 0.8 percent to 16,429.47, the Nasdaq slid 31.05 points or 0.7 percent to 4,352.84 and the S&P 500 dropped 18.78 points or 1 percent to 1,920.21.