Dow Falls 450 Points; US Small Business Confidence Slips in August

US stocks traded lower Tuesday morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling about 450 points.

After Tuesday's open, the Dow was down 0.84% at 52,963.03 points; the Nasdaq was down 0.17% at 26,461.84 points. The S&P 500 also moved lower, down 0.21% at 7,702.01 points.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy stocks rose 1.4% on Tuesday.

Healthcare stocks fell 2.2% on Tuesday.

Top News

The US NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell to 98.7 in August, down from 99.8 the previous month and below the market expectation of 99.3.

Advancing Stocks

PDS Biotechnology Corp shares surged 178% to $0.61 after the company announced it raised up to $22.55 million in equity financing through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction.

CEA Industries Inc shares gained momentum, jumping 44% to $5.01.

Wing Yip Food Holdings Group shares also moved higher, rising 29% to $5.25.

Declining Stocks

Focus Universal Inc shares plunged 59% to $6.99.

bioAffinity Technologies Inc shares fell 39% to $9.30.

Lexaria Bioscience Corp shares moved lower, dropping 35% to $9.26, after the company announced an adjustment to the exercise price of 453,969 warrants, from the original $17.85 to $45.90 per share to $12.92 per share.

Commodities

In commodities, crude oil rose 1.1% to $92.46; gold fell 0.6% to $4,449.50.

Silver rose 0.7% on Tuesday to $67.20; copper gained 2.5% to $6.8515.

Eurozone

European stocks were mostly higher on the day. The Eurozone STOXX 600 index rose 0.1%, Spain's IBEX 35 fell 0.3%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, Germany's DAX rose 0.1%, and France's CAC 40 rose 0.1%.

Asia-Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down 1.70%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 0.38%, China's Shanghai Composite up 0.20%, and India's BSE Sensex down 0.73%.

Economic Data

The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index fell 0.9% month-over-month in August, marking the second consecutive monthly decline.

The US NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell to 98.7 in August, down from 99.8 the previous month and below the market expectation of 99.3.