At the close of the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones fell 0.63%, the S&P 500 fell 0.89%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 1.12%.

Merck & Company Inc was the top gainer among the components of the Dow Jones index today, up 2.39 points or 2.44% to close at 100.35. Quotes of Johnson & Johnson rose by 2.66 points (1.57%), ending trading at 171.91. Visa Inc Class A rose 1.86 points or 0.91% to close at 206.86.

The least gainers were Walmart Inc, which shed 4.19 points or 2.94% to end the session at 138.39. Home Depot Inc was up 2.55% or 8.02 points to close at 306.92 while Dow Inc was down 2.24% or 1.19 points to close at 51. 95.

Leading gainers among the components of the S&P 500 in today's trading were CF Industries Holdings Inc, which rose 5.21% to hit 107.76, PENN Entertainment Inc, which gained 4.59% to close at 37.63. as well as Moderna Inc, which rose 4.57% to close the session at 179.03.

The least gainers were Hasbro Inc, which shed 9.86% to close at 57.16. Shares of Bath & Body Works Inc. lost 8.17% and ended the session at 33.06. Quotes of SVB Financial Group decreased in price by 6.73% to 219.76.

Leading gainers among the components of the NASDAQ Composite in today's trading were Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc, which rose 111.58% to hit 20.10, Freight Technologies Inc, which gained 113.15% to close at 0.44, and also shares of Toughbuilt Industries Inc, which rose 72.27% to end the session at 3.79.

The least gainers were Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc, which shed 83.22% to close at 0.68. Shares of Sellas Life Sciences Group Inc lost 43.96% to end the session at 2.55. Quotes of Nuwellis Inc decreased in price by 40.00% to 0.12.

On the New York Stock Exchange, the number of securities that fell in price (2188) exceeded the number of those that closed in positive territory (956), while quotes of 111 shares remained virtually unchanged. On the NASDAQ stock exchange, 2,257 companies fell in price, 1,538 rose, and 202 remained at the level of the previous close.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which is based on S&P 500 options trading, rose 5.37% to 23.73.

Gold Futures for December delivery added 0.30%, or 5.30, to $1.00 a troy ounce. In other commodities, WTI crude for December delivery fell 4.24%, or 3.77, to $85.19 a barrel. Futures for Brent crude for January delivery fell 3.57%, or 3.43, to $92.56 a barrel.

Meanwhile, in the forex market, the EUR/USD pair remained unchanged at 0.21% to 1.03, while USD/JPY advanced 0.77% to hit 139.86.

Futures on the USD index rose 0.53% to 106.73.