Dow Finishes Down 100+ Points For Second Consecutive Day

For the third consecutive day, stocks continued lower. This time it is on weak European economic data and concerns about increased U.S. involvement in Middle Eastern conflict.

Major Averages

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 117 points, or 0.68 percent, to 17,056.
• The S&P 500 dropped 12 points, or 0.58 percent, to 1,983.
• The Nasdaq Composite sold of 19 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 4,509.

Top Stories

Alibaba BABA gave up 3 percent Tuesday, meaning the company has lost value every session since undergoing the world’s largest IPO last week. Shares are down 7.8 percent since they opened.

Legislation on tax inversions have some investors skeptical that many proposed deals will not be completed. Acquisitions most concerning include Medtronic MDT buying Covidien COV and Burger King BKW buying Tim Hortons THI.

Shares of Plug Power PLUG surged 9.6 percent higher after the company announced a new financing deal. CEO Andy Marsh commented that the deal will help the company to reach more than $75 million in revenue during 2014.

Stock Movers

Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP shares shot up 5.8 percent to $169.17 on report of takeover talks with Allergan. Allergan AGN is set to acquire Salix Pharmaceuticals in a deal probably worth more than $10 billion, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Shares of Sangamo Biosciences SGMO got a boost, shooting up 5.4 percent to $11.35 after dropping 5.90 percent on Monday. Jefferies initiated coverage on Sangamo BioSciences with a Buy rating and a $22.00 price target.

CF Industries Holdings CF shares were also up, gaining 5.3 percent to $269.37 on confirmation of merger talks with Yara International ASA YARIY.

Shares of Ascena Retail Group ASNA were down 16.8 percent to $13.75 after the company reported downbeat fourth quarter earnings and issued a weak outlook.

CarMax KMX was down, falling 9.5 percent to $47.80 after the company reported downbeat fiscal second-quarter profit.

Commodities

Energy prices were mostly down Tuesday, with WTI and Brent mixed. At the close of equities, WTI contracts were up 0.62 percent and Brent contracts were down 0.16.

Gold got a significant bounce higher on weakness in equities. Gold futures were last trading 0.43 percent higher to $1,223.10. Silver futures finished the day flat.

Global Markets

Asian markets were mostly down last night. The Shanghai index was up 0.87 percent, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 0.49 percent and Japan’s Nikkei gave up 0.71 percent.

European markets were sharply lower on weak manufacturing data. The Euro Stoxx index, which tracks 50 eurozone blue chips, sold off 1.6 percent percent. London's FTSE gave up 1.44 percent, and France's CAC led losses with a 1.87 percent decline.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was once again stagnant with the U.S. Dollar Index at 84.81. 85 is a major resistance level and has stopped the dollar from making a year high for the past week.