Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell mildly on Tuesday amid weakness in the energy stocks and a slew of disappointing third quarter results, ahead of the release of Apple's (O:AAPL) quarterly earnings after the close of trading.
After reaching fresh two-month highs earlier last week, the three major indices still remain on track for one of their strongest months of the year. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ Composite Index inched down in spite of a rally among Health Care stocks. The Dow lost 41.62 or 0.24% to 17,581.43, while the NASDAQ fell 4.55 or 0.09% to close Tuesday's session at 5,030.15.
The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, dipped 5.29 or 0.26% to 2,065.89, as nine of 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Energy, Industrials and Telecommunications industries lagged, each falling more than 1% on the session. Health Care stocks ended Tuesday's session as the only sector in the green, closing up by 13.44 points or 1.83%.
Traders also await the release of the Federal Open Market Committee's October monetary policy statement on Wednesday after the completion of a two-day meeting. Although the FOMC has hinted that it will likely hold short-term interest rates at its current near-zero level at the meeting, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has still not ruled out a rate hike. The CME Group's (O:CME) Fed Watch forecasts a 5% chance of a rate hike in October, versus a 30% probability of one at the FOMC's meeting on Dec. 15-16.
The top performer on the Dow was UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (N:UNH), which gained 2.97 or 2.55% to 119.50. Shares in United Health are now up by more than 25% over the last year. The worst performer was IBM (N:IBM), which fell 5.92 or 4.12% to 137.74. Earlier on Tuesday, the tech giant disclosed that is currently under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange for issues related to its revenue recognition in the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (O:WBA) after Dow Jones reported that the pharmacy is nearing a $10 billion merger with Rite Aid Corporation (N:RAD) in a deal that could create the largest pharmacy in the U.S. Shares in Walgreens jumped 6.03 or 6.74% to 95.51, while shares in Rite Aid soared 2.59 or 42.60% to 8.67. The worst performer was PACCAR Inc (O:PCAR), which fell 3.75 or 6.83% to 51.14, after the Seattle-based truck maker posted worse than expected sales last quarter.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (N:HOT), after the Wall Street Journal reported that several Chinese firms might be interested in purchasing a large stake in the hotel chain. Shares in Starwood Hotels surged 6.16 or 8.99% to 74.71. The worst performer was CONSOL Energy Inc (N:CNX), which plunged 1.86 or 20.99% to 7.00. U.S. crude futures fell dipped below $43 a barrel at one point on Tuesday, falling to fresh two-month lows.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 2,307 to 819 margin.