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Stock Market News For Jul 5, 2018

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Markets closed lower on Tuesday as a selloff in tech stocks pared earlier gains made by energy stocks. Trade war fears continued to haunt investors who felt jittery leading to huge selloffs. This saw all three major indexes ending in negative territory. Trading volumes were lower, as markets closed at 1 p.m. ET ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined 0.5%, to close at 24,174.82. The S&P 500 ended 0.5% lower to close at 2,713.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 7,502.67, declining 0.9% and snapping its three-day winning streak. A total of 3.9 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 7.1 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.74-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.23-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

How did the Benchmark Perform?

The Dow lost 132.36 points. Shares of Boeing (BA - Free Report) and Caterpillar (CAT - Free Report) declined 0.9% and 1.8%, respectively. Apple, Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) was one of the biggest losers, declining 1.7%. Apple has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The S&P 500 shed 13.49 points, with tech stocks at the helm of the carnage. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) declined 1.4%. Five of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors ended in negative territory. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 65.01 points, with shares of Facebook, Inc. and Micron Technologies (MU - Free Report) declining 2.4% and 5.5%, respectively.

Tech Selloff Overshadows Gains by Energy Stock

Trade war fears continue to take its toll on markets. After opening higher on Tuesday, trade war fears once again made investors jittery, leading to huge selloffs. On Tuesday, markets initially rose, as energy shares rallied after the West Texas Intermediate oil futures crossed $75 per barrel, the first time since Nov 2014. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) increased as much as 1.5% at one point before closing 0.5% higher.  

However, initial gains were erased later in the day, as tech stocks, which helped markets rally on Monday, took a hit on Tuesday on growing fears of a trade war. Tech companies stand to lose the most if a trade war takes place. This once again saw investors panicking and selling off tech stocks.

Stocks That Made Headlines

Enbridge to Divest Natural Gas G&P Units, Raise $4.3B

Enbridge Inc (ENB - Free Report) is expected to raise $4.31 billion from the divestiture of its Canadian natural gas gathering and processing (G&P) business to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP - Free Report) . (Read More)

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