U.S. shares lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.54%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Technology , Financials and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.54%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.49%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.86%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ ), which rose 0.93% or 1.13 points to trade at 122.71 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM ) added 0.59% or 0.48 points to end at 82.24 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ ) was up 0.56% or 0.28 points to 50.70 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE ), which lost 2.64% or 2.07 points to trade at 76.28 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT ) declined 1.80% or 2.46 points to end at 133.83 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ) shed 1.74% or 3.26 points to 183.92.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE: AYI ) which rose 12.75% to 132.05, Scana Corporation (NYSE: SCG ) which was up 4.05% to settle at 40.36 and Albemarle Corp (NYSE: ALB ) which gained 3.36% to close at 96.62.

The worst performers were Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ: MU ) which was down 5.51% to 51.48 in late trade, Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ: LRCX ) which lost 3.35% to settle at 167.25 and Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ: QRVO ) which was down 3.32% to 77.44 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Anavex Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ: AVXL ) which rose 43.61% to 3.820, Juniper Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: JNP ) which was up 31.61% to settle at 11.450 and Micronet Enertec Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: MICT ) which gained 31.71% to close at 1.620.

The worst performers were Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ: BBOX ) which was down 62.96% to 0.75 in late trade, Tintri Inc (NASDAQ: TNTR ) which lost 23.57% to settle at 0.21 and SAExploration Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: SAEX ) which was down 25.22% to 1.720 at the close.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1887 to 1122 and 132 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1330 rose and 1153 declined, while 161 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.46% to 16.14.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.97% or 12.10 to $1253.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.32% or 0.24 to hit $74.18 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.54% or 0.42 to trade at $77.72 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.21% to 1.1663, while USD/JPY fell 0.28% to 110.59.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.31% at 94.31.