US Stocks close lower as Dollar Gains

US stocks slipped Tuesday, as the dollar strengthened on expectations that the Federal Reserve was moving closer to raising interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.69 points, or 0.3%, to 18454.30. 

    The S&P 500 declined 4.26 points, or 0.2%, to 2176.12, weighed down by utilities shares, which have benefited this year from expectations that interest rates will stay low. The Nasdaq Composite fell 9.34 points, or 0.2%, to 5222.99. 

    Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.5%, lifted by banking shares. The banking subindex rose 1.8% Tuesday but remains down more than 22% this year.

    Stocks in Asia mostly rose Tuesday, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbing 0.9%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ended down 0.1% as a batch of mixed economic data weighed on local shares.