With traders worried about the outlook for the Federal Reserve's stimulus program, stocks have moved notably lower during trading on Tuesday. The weakness on the day extends the pullback that was seen over the course of the previous session.
Airline stocks continue to see substantial weakness in mid-day trading, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.4 percent. With the loss, the index is pulling back further off the eleven-year closing high it set last Wednesday.
US Airways (LCC) is turning in one of the airline sector's worst performances, falling by 3.9 percent, while Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and SkyWest (SKYW) are also under pressure.
Significant weakness has also emerged among chemical stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent loss being posted by the Dow Jones Chemicals Index. Dow Chemical (DOW) and DuPont (DD) are posting notable losses.
Biotechnology, gold, and brokerage stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves to the downside.
The major averages have seen some further downside in recent trading, hitting new lows for the session. The Dow is down 124.91 points or 0.8 percent at 15,883.86, the Nasdaq is down 15.85 points or 0.4 percent at 4,029.41 and the S&P 500 is down 10.06 points of 0.6 percent at 1,790.84.
With the losses on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 are moving lower for the third straight day, pulling back below the key psychological levels of 16,000 and 1,800, respectively.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.