Stocks fall broadly at close of quarter

The stock market closed out the first three months of the year Tuesday on a down note, erasing much of the gains from the prior day’s big rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 200 points, knocking the index slightly lower for the year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended the quarter with a meager gain of half a percent.

The broad decline came as traders seized on the final day of the quarter to do some profit-taking and prune their portfolios. Healthcare stocks were among the biggest decliners. Oil prices extended their slide.

“It’s the end of the quarter,” said Anwiti Bahuguna, senior portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. “Today the markets are probably driven by that quite a bit, because people are rebalancing their portfolios.”

The Dow fell 200.19 points, or 1.1%, to 17,776.12. The 30-company index was down as much as 203 points. It’s now down 0.3% for the year.

The S&P 500 index slid 18.35 points, or 0.9%, to 2,067.89. The index is now up 0.4% for the year. The Nasdaq composite lost 46.55 points, or 0.9%, to 4,900.89. The tech-heavy index ended the quarter up 3.5%.

Traders often look to close out positions to make their books look as healthy as possible at the end of a quarter.

Other factors also contributed to the stepped-up selling on Tuesday.

“There’s also rising concern about oil prices, especially as the U.S. gets closer to a deal with Iran,” said Paul Christopher, head of international strategy at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “There’s some speculation that Iran will be able to release a lot of oil into the world.”

That could stoke fears of deflation, which can hurt corporate profits, he added.

The price of oil fell Tuesday as talks between the U.S. and Iran progressed somewhat.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.08 to close at $47.60 a barrel in New York. Oil finished down $2.16, or 4.3%, for the month.