Stocks slipped lower on Tuesday as Wall Street's recent rally continued to lose steam after reaching record highs last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 30 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite fell roughly 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.28% or -14.57 points to 5,203.62
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.08% or -30.05 points to 39,282.59
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.42% or -68.77 points to 16,315.70
In the News: McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) and Krispy Kreme announced Tuesday plans to expand their relationship, selling doughnuts at the fast-food chain's restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026 under an exclusive partnership. While the donut giant will start selling at McDonald's locations in the second half of this year, the company said it will take the two and a half year timeline to double its distribution to meet the projected demand.
Viking Therapeutics shares rose on Tuesday after the biotech announced its experimental weight loss pill showed positive early results, making the drugmaker another player in the emerging prescription weight loss market dominated by injectable drugs from Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY).
The company plans to begin a phase two clinical trial of the once-a-day oral tablet this year, as the pill demonstrated better weight loss results compared to a placebo and showed it was well tolerated, with mild side-effects similar to other weight loss drugs already on the market.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is expanding its pharmaceutical business to include same-day home delivery of popular medications in New York City and the greater Los Angeles area starting Tuesday.
The e-commerce giant first began testing same-day prescription medicine delivery in major cities across the United States, including Seattle, Miami, Phoenix, and Austin back in October, and is now utilizing smaller facilities stocked with common medications to allow for the customer's purchase-to-ship timeline to be "within a matter of minutes rather than hours or days," according to Amazon.
"By bringing Amazon Pharmacy's deliveries into our existing world-class logistics network, Amazon is building the fastest and most convenient service for the home delivery of prescription medications," said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, said in a statement.
On the Economic Front: Consumer confidence waned in March, with The Conference Board's index coming in below expectations at 104.7 for the month.
"Consumer's assessment of the present situation improved in March, but they also become more pessimistic about the future," said Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, in a statement. "Confidence rose among consumers aged 55 and over but deteriorated for those under 55. Separately, consumers in the $50,000-$99,999 income group reported lower confidence in March, while confidence improved slightly in all other income groups."