US close: Major indices end session lower

dl nyse new york stock exchange wall st street city finance dow jones nasdaq sp finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america 2 — New York Stock ExchangeSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks ended the session lower on Tuesday as market participants continued to digest a recession warning from the bond market and the latest headlines in the Ukraine-Russia war.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.80% at 34,641.18, while the S&P 500 was 1.26% weaker at 4,525.12 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.26% softer at 14,204.17.

The Dow closed 280.70 points lower on Tuesday, reversing gains recorded in the previous session.

Treasury yields were in focus again on Tuesday, with the two-year yield and its 10-year counterpart reversing course after inverting late last week, while traders also had a keen eye on developments in Eastern Europe, with the war between Ukraine and Russia carrying on and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowing to pursue allegations of war crimes against Moscow, stating that over 300 civilians were killed and tortured in a suburb near the nation's capital of Kyiv.

Oil prices, which started the session higher, were in the red by the end of trading on Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate futures down 1.28% at $101.96 per barrel and Brent crude 1.59% lower to $105.82.

In other news, the EU revealed it was planning a mandatory phase-out of coal imports from Russia in response to reports about Russian atrocities in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg. The action would be added to measures already ready for debate by EU ambassadors. Details of the plan were under discussion, according people familiar with the proposals told Bloomberg, but the European commission was also expected to propose a ban on most Russian trucks and ships from entering the EU, the report said. Russia supplies about half of Europe's thermal coal used for power stations to generate electricity.

Stocks headed south after Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard said the central bank needed to shrink its balance sheet "rapidly" if it were to drive down inflation.

On the macro front, the US trade deficit remained near-record levels of $89.18bn in February, down only a touch from January's print of $89.22bn as imports continued to soar amid demand and rising oil prices. Imports were up 1.3% to a record high level of $317.8bn, while exports rebounded and increased 1.8% to also hit a fresh all-time high of $228.6bn.

Elsewhere, the S&P global US composite PMI was revised lower to 57.7 in March from a preliminary reading of 58.5, but was still up from the 55.9 seen in February, the fastest rate of growth since July 2021 and signaling a sharp expansion in business activity across the private sector.

Finally, last month's ISM non-manufacturing PMI increased to 58.3 in March from 56.5 in February as easing Covid-19 pandemic restrictions somewhat offset rising costs and strained supply chains.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.

Dow Jones - Risers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $517.76 1.52%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $248.47 0.68%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $177.61 0.65%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $52.78 0.61%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $154.62 0.35%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $151.47 0.28%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $83.72 0.28%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $43.49 0.21%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%