Stocks Close Mostly Lower in Light Volume

U. S. stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday after trading slightly higher for much of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 2.71 points, or 0.02%, at 13,172.14. The S&P 500 lost 0.18 point, or 0.01%, to 1,403.93. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.54 points, or 0.18%, to 3,016.98.

Standard Chartered Plc (LSE:STAN.L) has agreed to pay $340 million to settle allegations that it hid transactions with Iran from regulators, the New York Department of Financial Services said on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein and other officials won the dismissal of a shareholder lawsuit accusing them of tolerating poor mortgage practices and quitting a federal bailout program early to boost executive pay.

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Tuesday his government would prolong a program of benefit payments to the long-term jobless, even as it pushes through multi-billion euro spending cuts to avoid resorting to a sovereign bailout.

Shares of Groupon fell sharply on Tuesday as second-quarter revenue came in below expectations and investors focused on slower growth. Groupon said its net income was $28.4 million, or 4 cents a share, as compared with a year-earlier net loss of $107.4 million. Revenue climbed 45 percent, to $568.3 million.

Crude-oil futures on Tuesday settled at their highest in a week. Crude for September delivery advanced 70 cents, or 0.8%, to $93.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.