Shares of Wall Street ended lower after a see-saw session on Tue. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 222.84 points, or 0.67%, to close at 32,990.12. The S&P 500 dipped 0.63% to 4,132.15. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.41% to 12,081.39. The Nasdaq was up 0.5% at its highs and down nearly 1.6% at its lows.
After flirting with bear market territory during the month, the Dow and the S&P 500 finished May little changed. The Nasdaq finished the month down about 2.1%.
European equity markets finished mixed on Tue. Oil majors helped lift London shares. The UK FTSE 100 closed up 7.60 points, or 0.1%, at 7,607.66. In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris closed down 1.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended down 1.3%.
Oil prices briefly rose on Tue after the European Union (EU) agreed to block the majority of oil imports from Russia. However, US WTI crude ended up falling 0.3% to settle at $114.67 per barrel. Brent crude, rose 1% to settle at $122.84 per barrel. The Wall Street Journal has reported that some Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are exploring the idea of suspending Russia’s participation in the alliance’s oil-production deal as Western sanctions and a partial European ban begin to undercut Moscow’s ability to pump more.