US stocks end lower as morning rally fizzles

A screen above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. US stocks closed lower Tuesday after falling sharply in the final hour of trading. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW

NEW YORK—US stocks finished lower for the sixth straight session Tuesday, with the Dow posting another triple-digit decline after a morning rally fizzled.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 204.91 points (1.29 percent) at 15,666.44.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 25.60 (1.35 percent) to 1,867.61, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 19.76 (0.44 percent) at 4,506.49.

US equity markets surged early and stayed high much of the day, but faded sharply in the last hour of trade as the market remained jittery following stock gyrations of the last week, especially Monday, when the Dow tumbled more than 1,000 at one point.

“Nerves are frayed after what happened yesterday,” said Bill Lynch, director of investment at Hinsdale Associates.

“I can’t predict where the market will be tomorrow or next week, it’s going to be volatile for sure. But I would hope that two or three months out, the market will have stabilized.”

The impetus for the correction has been China, where equities have seen a major pullback that has sparked fear that the world’s second-biggest economy is weaker than thought.

All 30 members of the Dow rose in the morning, but by the end of the day, only two companies, Apple and Disney, were higher. Both companies advanced 0.6 percent. Merck was the biggest loser, down 5.2 percent.

Some leading tech and biotech stocks scored gains, including Facebook (+1.1 percent), Netflix (+4.8 percent) and Gilead Sciences (+1.9 percent).

Large banks finished in the red, including Dow members JPMorgan Chase (-0.6 percent) and Goldman Sachs (-0.7 percent).

Several leading Chinese companies listed in the US rose. E-commerce giant Alibaba gained 4.2 percent, social networking platform Renren advanced 5.1 percent and online retailer JD.com added 4.7 percent. But Internet search company Baidu lost 2.9 percent.

Electronics retailer Best Buy bolted 12.6 percent higher after reporting that second-quarter net income rose 12.3 percent to $164 million.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.09 percent from 2.02 percent Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.82 percent from 2.73 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.