Nasdaq, S&P 500 Close Lower Following Volatile Session

(RTTNews) - Following the sell-off seen last Friday and the subsequent rebound on Monday, stocks went on another roller coaster ride over the course of the trading session on Tuesday.

The major averages moved to the upside early in the session before pulling sharply only to regain ground in afternoon trading.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq eventually ended the session down 250.84 points or 1 percent at 25,678.82. The S&P 500 also fell 19.08 points or 0.3 percent to 7,386.65, while the narrower Dow rose 86.10 points or 0.2 percent to 50,872.11.

The notable pullback by the Nasdaq came amid renewed weakness among tech stocks, which had regained some ground on Monday following last Friday's sell-off.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the sector lower before rebounding, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 1.9 percent after spiking by 5.6 percent in the previous session.

Computer hardware, networking and software stocks also moved significantly lower, contributing to the slump by the Nasdaq.

Outside the tech sector, energy stocks also saw considerable weakness amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.

U.S. crude oil futures plunged below $90 a barrel after President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. and Iran could reach a peace deal within "two or three days."

Trump also told reporters the Strait of Hormuz would open "immediately" after an agreement is reached, although his previous claims that a deal is close have not come to fruition.

Meanwhile, airline stocks benefitted from the steep drop in crude oil prices, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index surging by 3.7 percent.

Housing stocks also showed a substantial move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 3.6 percent.

The strength in the sector came after the National Association of Realtors released a report showing existing home sales in the U.S. spiked by much more than anticipated in the month of May.

NAR said existing home sales surged by 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.17 million in May after climbing by 0.8 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 4.04 million in April.

Economists had expected existing home sales to jump by 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.08 million from the 4.02 million originally reported for the previous month.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.3 percent, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.2 percent and South Korea's Kospi spiked by 8.2 percent.

Most European stocks also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.4 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.7 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries regained ground after trending lower over the past several sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 2.4 basis points to 4.528 percent.