NYSE (Photo : REUTERS/Lucas Jackson )
In a melancholic mood, the market opened Tuesday with mixed signals. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5 percent while the Nasdaq Composite Index and The S&P 500 declined 0.4 percent.
This slump is due to the fact that investors are fretting over weak quarterly results.
The S&P 500 fell to 2,078.21; Dow eroded 83.58 points to 17,892.73 on the day which seals the end of the first quarter.
Meanwhile, futures for the Nasdaq-100 (NQM5) slumped 0.5 percent (22.75 points), to 4,349.50 due to the fact that investors tried to sell in an aim to solidify the previous gains.
"It's been a very mixed quarter as we've had a directionless market," chief market analyst at Natixis Global Asset Management David Lafferty said.
Lafferty attributed the downfall to the struggle of dollar and oil to reach new heights. It was a result of the bunch of unknowns, according to him, Bloomberg reported.
The S&P 500 (SPX) ends the first quarter up 1.3 percent, marking its ninth-straight gaining quarter. In March, the index suffered a 0.9 percent loss.
Notably, the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) is aiming a 4.5 percent gain in the first quarter which will be the longest quarterly winning record for the index, according to Morningstar.
Importantly, the dollar was recovering from a slumber against the Euro on Monday, which might have also affected the selling on Tuesday.
"In general, U.S. equities are in a difficult position with too many headwinds in place, preventing a sustainable rally from developing," emailed Wouter Sturkenboom, Russell Investments' senior investment strategist in London.
Among losers, Transocean Ltd., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips saw a downfall of a minimum 1.2 percent as crude-oil prices slumped.
Winners included Charter Communications Inc. that went up by 7.5 percent. The result came after it agreed to acquire majority of shares in Bright House Networks paying USD 10.4 billion.
All in all, it could be termed as to be a great Tuesday 'market mix'.
