Despite a strong start to the session, all three major benchmarks erased earlier gains to finish Tuesday in the red. The Dow logged an 81-point drop, while the S&P 500 was also lower, after both struggled for direction for most of the afternoon. The Nasdaq registered modest losses as well, as Big Tech resumed its slide, and Amazon (AMZN) came under fire on the heels of an antitrust lawsuit over its pricing.

Reopening plays, namely cruise and airline stocks, kept some of today's losses in check. Meanwhile, bitcoin is still contending with the closely watched $38,000 mark, as investors weighed comments from Tesla's (TSLA) Elon Musk regarding recent sustainability talks with bitcoin miners against another bull note for crypto-exchange bigwig Coinbase (COIN), this time from JPMorgan. 

The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 34,312.46) fell 81.5 points or 0.2% for the day. Boeing (BA) led the Dow components with a 1.4% rise, while Amgen (AMGN) paced the laggards, falling 2.3%.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 4,188.13) shaved 8.9 points or 0.2% for the day. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 13,657.17) dropped 4 points or 0.03% for the day.

Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 18.84) added 0.4 point or 2.4% for the day.

GOLD PRICES APPROACH SIGNIFICANT RESISTANCE AREA

Oil prices inched higher on Tuesday, holding onto their weekly highs as investors continued to monitor negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal, which would warrant the lifting of sanctions. In turn, July-dated crude added 2 cents, or 0.03%, to settle at $66.07 per barrel.

Gold prices saw a more significant move higher, on the other hand, to settle near the $1,900 an ounce mark, which is a significant area of resistance. The safe haven commodity got a boost from declining U.S. consumer confidence data, as well as a dip in new home sales. As a result, June-dated gold rose $13.50, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,898 an ounce.