US Close: Stocks fall on Chinese currency tumble

LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - US equities closed lower on Tuesday after China devalued its currency by lowering the daily fix to the dollar by 1.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.2%, the S&P 500 fell 0.96% and the Nasdaq ended 1.27% lower.

Analysts noted the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its so-called 'death cross', which is viewed by some as a signal to sell.

The 'death cross' is the moment when the index's 50-day moving average slows below its 200-day moving average.

Tuesday data Labour Productivity slowed again for the second quarter at 1.3%, slightly slower than the expected 1.6%, but better than the average in recent years.

Capital Economics labelled productivity growth the "number one economic problem." "The bigger story is the almost unprecedented weakness of productivity, not just since the recession but going all the way back to 2004 when the IT-related boost faded," researchers said in a note.

Wholesale inventory figures for June showed 0.9% month on month growth, coming in above consensus expectations of 0.4% growth.

Part of this boost, researchers at Capital Economics said, was due to a downward revision to May data.

The dollar was 0.35% higher against the yen, 0.2% higher against the euro and 0.2% up against the pound, while gold futures were up 0.36% at $1,108.10.

Oil prices slid, with West Texas Intermediate losing 3.6% to $43.39 a barrel, while Brent shed 2.2% to $49.32 a barrel.

Google (Xetra: A0B7FY - news) boosted after name change In company news, Google closed up by 4.27% after the technology giant announced it built a new umbrella company and called it Alphabet .

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in insurer Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE: SYA - news) were up by 6.71% after Japanese company Sumitomo said it planned to buy the company in deal valued about $3.8bn.

Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) performed poorly as China's currency moves prompted concerns about Chinese demand for iPhones, which are more expensive than its rivals, especially local brands. Shares in that tech stock fell by 5.2% by the end of the day.

Meanwhile metals producer Freeport-McMoRan slumped 12.27%, after recovering on Monday. In a move that would significantly dilute its value, the resources company said it would issue up to $1bn in common shares.

S&P 500 - Risers Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC - news) (MPC (KOSDAQ: 050540.KQ - news) ) $55.86 +4.88% Google Inc. Class C (GOOG) $660.78 +4.27% Google Inc. (GOOGL) $690.30 +4.10% Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $38.55 +2.53% PulteGroup Inc (NYSE: PHM - news) . (PHM) $20.55 +2.14% Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $70.43 +2.07% Tesoro Corp. (TSO (HKSE: 8145-OL.HK - news) ) $109.43 +1.93% General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE: GGP - news) . (GGP) $28.04 +1.85% Apartment Investment & Management Co. (AIV) $39.93 +1.81% Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $47.10 +1.68% S&P 500 - Fallers Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $10.22 -12.27% United States Steel Corp (NYSE: X - news) . (X) $19.48 -8.93% Avon Products Inc (Sao Paolo: AVON34.SA - news) . (AVP (Other OTC: AVPI - news) ) $6.11 -7.98% Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $21.34 -6.85% Allegheny Technologies Inc (NYSE: ATI - news) . (ATI) $21.03 -6.74% CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $57.27 -6.04% Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA - news) . (AA) $9.48 -5.95% Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) $111.97 -5.34% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $113.55 -5.15% Denbury Resources Inc (NYSE: DNR - news) . (DNR) $4.06 -5.14% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Verizon Communications Inc (Xetra: 868402 - news) . (VZ) $47.60 +0.78% Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.93 +0.63% American Express Co. (AXP) $81.34 +0.10% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $117.69 +0.08% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $105.89 +0.07% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Apple Inc. (AAPL) $113.55 -5.15% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $108.00 -2.70% Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT - news) . (CAT (Taiwan OTC: 4990.TWO - news) ) $78.04 -2.64% Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.99 -2.19% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS (KSE: 078935.KS - news) ) $201.70 -2.07% General Electric Co. (GE) $25.71 -2.02% Cisco Systems Inc (HKSE: 4333.HK - news) . (CSCO) $28.03 -1.96% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $46.41 -1.94% E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $53.39 -1.84% 3M Co. (MMM) $148.48 -1.82% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Google Inc. Class C (GOOG) $660.78 +4.27% Google Inc. (GOOGL) $690.30 +4.10% Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $89.50 +0.82% Sba Communications Corp (NasdaqGS: SBAC - news) . (SBAC) $124.32 +0.70% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $527.46 +0.66% Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $30.57 +0.49% Tractor Supply Company (NasdaqGS: TSCO - news) (TSCO) $93.47 +0.39% CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (NasdaqGS: CHRW - news) (CHRW) $69.84 +0.37% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $83.90 +0.33% Ross Stores Inc (NasdaqGS: ROST - news) . (ROST) $53.82 +0.17% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $21.34 -6.85% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $113.55 -5.15% Baidu Inc (Xetra: A0F5DE - news) . (BIDU) $167.93 -5.04% Micron Technology Inc (NasdaqGS: MU - news) . (MU) $17.88 -4.99% Wynn Resorts Ltd (NasdaqGS: WYNN - news) . (WYNN) $99.53 -4.30% Sandisk Corp (NasdaqGS: SNDK - news) . (SNDK) $59.10 -3.16% Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NasdaqGS: NXPI - news) (NXPI) $96.28 -3.02% Yahoo (Hanover: YHO.HA - news) ! Inc. (YHOO) $36.03 -3.01% Keurig Green Mountain Inc (Xetra: GM2.DE - news) (GMCR) $52.97 -3.00% Analog Devices Inc (NasdaqGS: ADI - news) . (ADI) $59.38 -2.80%