U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday as rising oil prices due to tensions in the Middle East fueled inflation worries and created additional market uncertainty. The Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500 and the Dow all ended in negative territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.2%, or 84.41 points, to close at 46,124.06.Sixteen components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory, while 13 ended in positive territory, and one remained unchanged. The major loser of the Dow was Salesforce, Inc. (CRM). The stock price of this customer relationship management solutions provider fell 6.2%. Salesforce currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.8%, to close at 21,761.89.
The S&P 500 lost 0.4% or 24.63 points, to end at 6,556.37. Out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, four ended in negative territory and seven ended in positive territory. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC), the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) and the Information Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) fell 2.5%, 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) rose 2.1%.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), increased by 3.1% to 26.95. A total of 17.94 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 20.72 billion. The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and 19 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 47 new highs and 186 new lows.
Oil Markets Rebound
Crude prices rose as the Middle East conflict intensified. Oil prices ticked higher on Tuesday, following a sharp drop in Monday’s session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded around $92.4 a barrel, while Brent crude futures had risen to over $104.5. Higher oil prices are one of the factors leading to inflation concerns and a more complicated monetary policy after the Federal Reserve indicated that there will be only one rate cut in 2026.
Economic Data
The Department of Labor reported that nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 1.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025, missing the consensus estimate of 1.9%.
Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, missing the consensus estimate of 4%.
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