U.S. stocks fell for a third day in a row Tuesday amid gyrations in the oil market and Russian economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 111.97 points, or .65%, to 17,086.87. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 16.89 points, or .85%, to 1,972.74 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 57.32 points, or 1.24%, to 4,547.83.
The S&P 500 and Dow looked like they would close up for the day until late afternoon selling sent the indexes tumbling.
Tech stocks were particularly hard hit. Microsoft (MSFT) plunged 3.2% to close at $45.16. Amazon, which had extended the deadline for Christmas delivery, finished (AMZN) down 3.6% at $295.06.
Energy stocks in the S&P 500, hard hit by oil prices falling by more than half from their peak earlier this year, gained 0.7% Tuesday. But they’re still down 16.6% for the year.
As for Russia, the ruble hit record lows versus the dollar during the day, although it ultimately rebounded. Late last night, Russia raised interest rates in an effort to combat inflation.
