Dow Jones sole gainer, as S&P closes lower for 4th straight session

US stock indices mostly declined on Tuesday, as Wall Street’s fear index surged to its highest level in a month, following the sharpest drop in consumer confidence since August 2021.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.35%, or 159 points, to 43,621 points, after falling to 43,282 points. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index decreased 0.45%, or 28 points, to 5,955 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped around 1.35%, or 260 points, to 19,026 points. Therefore, both indices fell for the fourth straight session.

As for the European indices, the STOXX Europe 600 advanced 0.15% to 554.2 points as the index gains were offset by the decline in energy, mining and technology stocks.

The FTSE 100 inched up 0.1% to 8,668 points, the DAX 40 remained unchanged at 22,410 points, while the CAC 40 edged down 0.5% at 8,051 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 shed 1.4%, or 539 points, to 38,237 points. TOPIX decreased 0.45% to 2,724 points.

In the oil market, futures contracts for Brent crude for April 2025 delivery inched down 2.35%, or $1.76, to $73.02 per barrel.

Meanwhile, prices of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for April delivery dropped 2.5%, or $1.77, to $68.93 per barrel.

As for gold, futures prices for the yellow metal for April delivery inched down 1.5%, or $44.4, to a record of $2,918.80 per ounce.

A survey by the Conference Board showed that the US Consumer Confidence Index fell by 7 points to 98.3 in February, marking the third consecutive monthly decline. Meanwhile, consumers' 12-month inflation expectations rose to 6% from 5.2%.