Stocks Ended Lower, Dow below 25000

U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the Dow falling back below 25,000 as a sharp decline in Walmart Inc. weighed heavily. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 254.63 points, or 1.01%, to 24,964.75. The S&P 500 lost 15.96 points, or 0.58%, to 2,716.26. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.16 points, or 0.07%, to 7,234.31.

Oil futures posted a mixed finish Tuesday, with the U.S. benchmark gaining ground on its global counterpart thanks to Canadian pipeline problems. West Texas Intermediate futures for April delivery rose 24 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $61.79 a barrel. Brent crude fell 42 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $65.25 a barrel.