U.S. Stock Market Closes Lower; Dow Loses 59 Points

The euro hit a two-month low on Tuesday, which helped to curb risk appetite on Wall Street. Stocks rose in early trade after gapping down at the open, but a late day sell-off sent the major averages out firmly in negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 59 points to close at 12,756. The widely watched blue-chip index traded in a range between 12,748 and 12,898. The Dow has now lost more than 4 percent in the last month.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) lost 0.34 percent on the session to close at $137.79. Volume was a little lighter than normal with around 119.7 million SPY shares trading hands compared to a three-month daily average of roughly 123 million. The S&P 500 is down a little less than four percent over the last month.

The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ), which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100, fell 0.69 percent to $62.98. In after hours trading, however, the QQQ has risen 0.32 percent after strong earnings from technology giant Cisco (CSCO).

Crude oil followed stocks lower on the day. NYMEX crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, had lost 0.49 percent to $85.15 at last check. Brent crude contracts shed 0.91 percent and were last trading at $108.08. The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) closed the equity session down 0.57 percent to $31.41.

Precious metals were also slightly lower on Tuesday. COMEX gold futures fell 0.36 percent to $1,724.70. Silver futures shed 0.24 percent to $32.45. The heavily traded SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) lost 0.20 percent and closed at $167.10 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

The losses in the stock market fueled a small rally in Treasury bonds. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) added 0.33 percent to $126.61. The TLT has gained a little more than 2 percent over the last month. The yield on the 10-Year Note fell 1.5 basis points to 1.59 percent.

The U.S. dollar was slightly higher on the day. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (UUP), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, closed up 0.09 percent to $22.21. The closely watched EUR/USD pair was last trading at $1.2705.

By Scott Rubin