Investing.com -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its fifth triple digit loss of the month on Tuesday and its ninth triple-digit move in March, continuing one of its volatile months in recent memory.
Losses, meanwhile, were less pronounced on the S&P 500 Composite while the NASDAQ Composite index edged higher.
Though nearly every sector on the S&P 500 closed lower on Tuesday, the index was boosted by a rally in technology stocks led by gains in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook Inc . (NASDAQ:FB) stock. Apple, rose 1.67% or 2.09 to 127.04, amid reports of the launch of its Apple TV service this fall. Facebook, meanwhile, increased 1.30 or 1.66% to 79.37 after announcing plans to enable users to send money to friends and colleagues via its messenger app.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.71% or 128.34 points to 17,849.08, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.34% or 6.99 to 2,074.20. The NASDAQ, however, gained 0.16% or 7.93 to 4,937.44.
The top performer on the Dow was Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), which gained 0.74% or 1.14 to 154.81, one day after the Seattle-based company indicated that it is eyeing a deal to build a high-throughput communications satellite for a top technology company such as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) or several other tech giants by year's end. The worst performer on the Dow, meanwhile, was EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) which lost 2.95% or 2.27 points to 74.80. DuPont closed as the worst performer on the Dow for the second straight day, after the chemical conglomerate was given a downgrade by Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC).
On the NASDAQ, the biggest gainer of the day was Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN), which rose 3.55% or 16.03 to 467.80 as it awaits FDA approval on a new cholesterol drug that could bring down LDL levels significantly. The worst performer on the NASDAQ was Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU), which fell 0.85 or 2.96% to 28.51.
On the S&P 500, the biggest gainer was PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH), which rose 4.22% or 3.98 to 98.33. The worst performer was Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC), which lost 3.32 points or 3.50% to 91.57 after the Southern California-based real estate investment trust rejected a $16 billion takeover bid from fellow mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE:SPG). The Indianapolis-based multinational commercial real estate company, fell 0.94 or 0.50% to 186.13. Simon is the nation's largest real estate investment trust.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), meanwhile, dropped 0.63% or 0.39 to 62.01 after the Houston-based energy corporation announced a plan to slash capital project spending by $5 billion over the next five years.