Although stocks were trading ahead throughout most of Tuesday's session, Wall Street erased gains as stocks closed slightly lower from Monday's gains as more signs of economic damages emerge due to the coronavirus pandemic. During the highs of Tuesday's session, the Dow Jones was up over 900 points before falling steeply into negative territory.
U.S Congress has begun to respond to what seems to be the beginnings of a mortgage crisis, as many small businesses were not able to meet the full amount of their April rent. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that he plans to propose a plan to Congress that will provide additional funds for the small-business loan program that was a part of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief stimulus passed late last month.
Here's how the market settled after Tuesday's session:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.16% or -4.27 points to 2,659.41
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.12% or -26.13 points to 22,653.86
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.33% or -25.98 points to 7,887.26
In Major Stock News, retail chains including Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), Gap (NYSE: GPS), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) and Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), all surged during the majority of trading hours as the United States have shown a decline in new coronavirus cases as social distancing measures seem to be working. 3M (NYSE: MMM) share rose after the manufacturing company announced that it has reached an agreement with the White House and will deliver 166.5 million medical masks to the U.S. over the next three months. Airlines like American (NASDAQ: AAL) and United (NASDAQ: UAL) have seen share gains on Tuesday due to improving health data from Europe and New York City.
In Stock Sector News, sectors were split over performance gains and losses on Tuesday. The half that saw performance increases include Materials +2.42%, Energy +2.00%, Consumer Discretionary +1.23%, Financials +0.94%, Communication Services +0.67% and Real Estate +0.12%. The rest that saw negative performance include Utilities -1.21%, Consumer Staples -1.20%, Information Technology -1.06%, Health Care -0.93% and Industrials -0.19%.
In Commodity and Currency News, U.S. crude oil forecasts production cuts through 2021 ahead of the coming OPEC meeting on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate's (NYSE: USO) barrel price increased +0.21% and Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) dropped -2.61%, bringing barrel prices to between $24-$33 each. Gold (NYSE: GLD) prices slightly fell under -0.05% for Tuesday, although the metal's prices is still above $1,640 per ounce. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) lost strength on Tuesday, with the DXY Index dropping -0.82%.