U.S. stocks were lower on Tuesday, after a surprise devaluation of the Chinese yuan took away the momentum of yesterday’s rally.
On Monday, the Dow broke a 7-day losing streak, rallying to finish up by 241 points. But this morning investors watched as many of those gains were taken back, after China devalued its main currency by 1.9 percent against the U.S. dollar.
The fear is that the U.S. dollar will strengthen even more, hurting the overall trade deficit at home. Moreover, experts believe the devaluation is the latest sign that the Chinese are truly worried about the long-term health of their economy.
Elsewhere, oil prices were down 4% to $43.08 per barrel. This marks a six-year low for the price of oil.
Here are the final numbers from Wall Street on Tuesday:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,402.84 (-212.33)
NASDAQ: 5,036.79 (-66.01)
S&P 500: 2,084.07 (-20.11)
