04:13 PM EST, 03/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets ended lower Tuesday as investors weighed the lower-than-expected services index.

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* The Institute for Supply Management's services purchasing managers' index fell to 52.6 last month from January's 53.4 reading. The consensus was for a 53 print in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

* April West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down $0.55 to $78.19 per barrel, while May Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.75 to $82.05.

* Gold rose to a new record for the third-straight session as buying momentum for the precious metals continues. Gold for April delivery closed up $15.60 to settle at $2,141.900 per ounce.

* Target ( TGT ) shares rose past 11% after the company reported higher adjusted earnings and sales in fiscal Q4.

* Meta Platforms ( META ) shares fell 1.6% after Downdetector showed that several users reported outages on Facebook and Instagram earlier in the day. The social media apps are now back up and running, according to media reports.