Stock market close, August 5, 2014: After ending in positive territory yesterday (Monday), U.S. markets crumbled again today on concerns of heightened geopolitical tension in Ukraine. The energy sector saw a broad sell-off during the afternoon and oil prices fell. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark crude that is priced at the Nymex in New York, slipped nearly 1% and fell below $98 per barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark priced in London, slipped below $105 per barrel.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), which gauges investment fear, jumped roughly 11.5% on the day. Short-term investors in the Path S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN (NYSE:VXX) saw shares increase by more than 5%.
Here’s the scorecard from today’s trading session:
Dow: 16,429.47, -139.81 (-0.84%) Nasdaq: 4,352.83, -31.05 (-0.71%) S&P 500: 1,920.21, -18.78 (-0.97%)
Now, here are the top stories from today:
Now our experts share some of the most important investment moves to make based on today's market trading - for Money Morning Members only: