Stocks finished Tuesday lower, as profit-taking took hold of Wall Street just one session after the major benchmarks all notched their best day in months. The Dow fell 144 points despite the retreating 10-year Treasury yield and optimistic vaccine news. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both finished modestly in the red, the tech-heavy latter dragged down particularly hard as Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) each fell about 1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 31,391.52) fell 144 points or 0.5% for the day. Dow Inc (DOW) topped the list of blue-chip winners, rising 1.9%, while Intel (INTC) fell to the bottom after losing 2.6%.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,870.29) lost 31.5 points, or 0.8% for the day. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 13,358.79) shed 230 points, or 1.7% for the day.

Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 24.10) rose 0.8 point or 3.2% for the day.

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GOLD SNAPS FIVE-DAY LOSING STREAK

Oil prices fell once again today, just ahead of this week's Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) meeting. The organization is expected to ease supply curbs, with as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bdp) being allowed back into the market as economic recovery efforts ramp up. As a result, April-dated crude fell 89 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $59.75 per barrel.

Gold prices snapped their five-day losing streak, after earlier dipping to its lowest level since mid-June. Investors flocked to the bullion, as both the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields retreated. In response, April-dated gold rose $10.60, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,733.60 an ounce.