U.S. market indexes were lower on Tuesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18066.75 for a loss of -258.32 or -1.41 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2127.02 for a loss of -32.02 points or -1.48 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5155.25 for a loss of -56.63 points or -1.09 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 18.19 for a gain of 3.03 points or 19.99 percent.

Tuesday’s Market Movers

 Stocks were lower Tuesday as the market watched economic data regarding the Fed’s next move on monetary policy. The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meets on September 20 to 21 and market trading momentum in equities is slowing ahead of that meeting. Oil prices also affected market valuations Tuesday after the International Energy Agency released its monthly report on the oil market. Prices were lower with the IEA’s projection for lower demand.

On the economic calendar the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index was lower at 94.4.

Stocks trading actively for the day included the following:

Bank of America

Chesapeake Energy

Apple

Wells Fargo

Ford

General Electric

Anadarko Petroleum

Regions Financial

Frontier Communications

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses for the day:

Chevron Corp -2.76

Exxon Mobil Corp -2.38

Goldman Sachs Group Inc -2.37

American Express -2.34

In the broad market the energy sector led losses for the day with S&P 500 energy stocks down 2.86 percent. The technology sector was also lower. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5155.25 for a loss of -1.09 percent. The Nasdaq 100 Index closed at 4722.84 for a loss of -0.88 percent.

Discovery Communications -4.88

CA Inc -3.37

Viacom Inc -3.36

Netflix Inc -2.99

In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.83 points or -0.66 percent. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.41 points or 0.43 percent to 95.56.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed lower at 1212.32 for a loss of -23.55 points or -1.91 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 734.82 for a loss of -13.36 points or -1.79 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was lower at 7396.46 for a loss of -135.25 points or -1.80 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was lower at 8503.96 for a loss of -177.17 points or -2.04 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1517.26 for a loss of -28.71 points or -1.86 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 943.33 for a loss of -12.87 points or -1.35 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1258.29 for a loss of -19.71 or -1.54 percent; the Russell 1000 Index lower at 1178.70 for a loss of -18.10 points or -1.51 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index lower at 601.89 for a loss of -10.47 points or -1.71 percent.