US close: Plunge in oil prices drags equities lower
US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as oil prices plunged and investors digested mixed economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial fell 1.14%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.46% and the S&P 500 edged down 1.26% at 1431 GMT.
Oil prices fizzled from highs in the previous session on doubts that global producers will agree to a freeze in output to address an oversupplied market. Saudi Arabia and Russia have proposed to halt output at January levels but Iran is seen unlikely to agree to the deal after recently being freed of western sanctions that have hurt its crude trade.
West Texas Intermediate crude was down 4.9% to $31.82 per barrel and Brent slid 4.2% to $33.28 per barrel at 2036 GMT.
On the economic data front, house prices in the US rose a touch less than expected in December, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index was up 5.7% on the year, the same as November but just missing economists' expectations for a 5.8% increase.
Separately, data released by the National Association of Realtors showed US existing home sales edged up 0.4% to an annual rate of 5.47m from a downwardly-revised 5.45m in December, beating economists’ expectations for a drop to 5.32m.
US consumer confidence slumped much lower than expected in February, according to data from the Conference Board. The Consumer Confidence Index declined to 92.2 in February, having nudged higher to 97.8 in January. A fall to 97 had been forecast by economists.
On the company front, shares in Fitbit declined after the wearable fitness device manufacturer posted an outlook for the current quarter and the full year significantly below expectations on Monday night.
Home Depot shares gained after it recorded a 5.6% increase in sales for the year, which was better than expected.
Macy’s Inc. advanced after reporting quarterly earnings that beat forecasts.
The dollar strengthened 0.93% versus the pound, rose 0.10% against the euro but fell 0.72% to the yen.
S&P 500 - Risers
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $5.08 +12.64%
Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI) $70.71 +5.93%
Scripps Network Interactive Inc. (SNI) $58.00 +3.89%
Macy's Inc. (M) $42.31 +3.04%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $24.24 +2.80%
Coach Inc. (COH) $36.94 +2.10%
Target Corp. (TGT) $73.97 +2.07%
Masco Corp. (MAS) $28.36 +2.05%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $74.11 +1.83%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $77.70 +1.73%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $19.26 -10.58%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $7.90 -9.20%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $22.61 -9.16%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $7.24 -8.70%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $6.64 -8.54%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $2.19 -8.37%
EQT Corp. (EQT) $55.50 -7.85%
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) $100.14 -7.35%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $42.77 -7.22%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $18.89 -6.95%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $124.50 +1.34%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $66.48 +1.30%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $60.22 +0.08%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $84.87 -4.45%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $56.08 -4.25%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $51.18 -2.79%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $144.89 -2.62%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $58.83 -2.32%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $65.77 -2.29%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $94.69 -2.26%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $26.11 -1.93%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.80 -1.87%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.22 -1.42%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $46.85 +6.28%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $159.16 +1.85%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $36.21 +1.06%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $112.30 +0.95%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $40.07 +0.93%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $30.80 +0.46%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $37.01 +0.41%
Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $25.10 +0.36%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $31.60 +0.25%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $150.35 +0.19%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $42.77 -7.22%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $10.48 -5.16%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $30.74 -4.62%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $161.02 -4.54%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $85.28 -4.18%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $24.69 -3.97%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $60.68 -3.85%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $25.19 -3.82%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $75.61 -3.67%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $50.67 -3.41%