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New York - US stocks on Tuesday finished lower following a topsy-turvy session amid unease over plunging oil prices and a crash in the Russian rouble.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell dropped 111.97 points (0.65%) to 17 068.87. The blue-chip index climbed as high as 17 427.44 in late morning before tumbling.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 16.89 (0.85%) to 1 972.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sank 57.32 (1.24%) to 4 547.83.
US oil prices stabilised, but the benchmark European contract fell below $60 a barrel.
Meanwhile, the Russian rouble crashed to extreme lows on Tuesday, trading at 80 rubles to the dollar and 100 to the euro.
Adding to the mix, investors were eyeing a US Federal Reserve meeting that culminates on Wednesday with a policy announcement that could adjust the central bank's outlook for raising interest rates in 2015.
"There are just a lot of pieces in play," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.
A sell-off in tech stocks hit Apple (-1.4%), Facebook (-3.0%) and Google (-3.6%), among others.
Microsoft fell 3.2 % on a downgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which cited a "murkier outlook" and the "elevated valuation" of the stock.
Citigroup dropped 3.1% on concerns that it is more exposed to Russia than other large banks.
Some petroleum-linked equities rallied as US oil prices stabilised. Dow component Chevron rose 0.8%, Apache gained 2.7% and oil-services company Schlumberger rose 0.4%.
Dow member Boeing gained 1.8% after announcing it was hiking its quarterly dividend by 25% and that it increased its share repurchase plan to $12bn. The aerospace giant had $4.8bn remaining in authorised share repurchases prior to the move.
Drugstore CVS Health gained 2.7% as it projected 2015 earnings of $5.05-$5.19 per share. Analysts estimated $5.11/share in earnings next year.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.07% from 2.12% on Monday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.705 from 2.75%.
