Poor retail sales figures in combination with a concern about how the situation in the Middle East can affect the economy contributed to lowering the mood on Wall Street. The three leading indexes on the New York Stock Exchange declined on Tuesday.
The broad S&P 500 index fell 0.8 percent, the Dow Jones industrial index decreased 0.7 percent while Nasdaq's technology-heavy composite index closed 0.9 percent minus.
During the day, statistics were presented showing that sales in retail trade fell 0.9 percent in May. Analysts had expected a decline of 0.6 percent.
Concern that the hostilities between Israel and Iran will expand contributed to pushing up the oil price. The price of so-called Brent oil rose to over 76 dollars per barrel.
Higher oil prices led to the oil companies' shares performing well. Chevron rose 1.9 percent and Exxon Mobil 1.4 percent.
On Wednesday, the US central bank Federal Reserve is expected to announce its interest rate decision.
