Benchmarks closed mixed on Tuesday following a rally in oil prices rally and slump in Apple’s shares. Oil prices increased after the dollar weakened and gasoline inventories declined. Shares of Apple declined following speculation that the company may report a year-over-year fall in iPhone sales for the first time. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious regarding the Fed’s two-day policy meeting, which is scheduled to end today. For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) increased 0.1%, to close at 17,990.32. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to close at 2,091.70. However, the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 4,888.31, losing 0.2%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 0.9% to settle at 13.96. A total of around 6.5 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 6.9 billion shares. Advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 75% stocks that advanced, 22% declined. Oil prices rallied during the day after dollar fell following a lower-than-expected rise in durable orders. Also, gasoline prices increased following a slump in gasoline inventories and disruptions in refinery units in the U.S. Gulf Coast market. As per analysts’ reports, gasoline supplies and distillates are likely to fall by 1.3 million barrels and 800,000 barrels, respectively for the week ended April 22. Rise in gasoline prices had a positive impact on oil prices with the WTI crude increasing 3.3% to $44.04 per barrel, reaching its best settlement since November. Also, Brent crude rose 2.8% to $45.74 a barrel during the day. Rally in oil prices boosted the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) by 1.6%, which was also the biggest gainer among the S&P 500 sectors. Its key components including, Schlumberger Ltd (SLB), EOG Resources (EOG), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) and ConocoPhillips (COP) increased 0.6%, 3.8%, 1.8%, 7.7% and 3.9%, respectively. Dow components Chevron Corp (CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) rose 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively. However, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) fell 0.7% following speculation that iPhone sales are likely to witness their first ever year-on-year decline. iPhone unit sales in the recent quarter may decline to 50 million from 61 million units reported in the year ago quarter. Separately, the tech giant was scheduled to report its second quarter results yesterday after the close. Slump in Apple’s shares dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq into the red by the end of the day’s trading. It also had a negative impact on the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), which fell 0.5% and was the biggest decliner among the S&P 500 sectors. Some of the major components including Alphabet Inc. ( GOOGL), Facebook, Inc. (FB), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), Oracle Corporation (ORCL) and salesforce.com, inc. (CRM) decreased 2.3%, 1.2%, 0.6%, 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively. In economic news, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that durable orders increased 0.8% in March to $230.7 billion, in contrast to a decline of 3.1% in February. However, this was lower than the consensus estimate of a 2% rise. Further, the Conference Board reported that Consumer Confidence Index declined to 94.2 in April from 96.2 in March. The reading was also less than the consensus estimates of 96.7 and negatively impacted investor sentiment. However, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index revealed that 20-City composite index, the leading measure of U.S. home prices increased 0.2% in February after remaining flat in both December and January. The index also rose 5.4% year-over-year. In earnings news, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company’s (DD) shares increased 2.4% after its first quarter earnings of $1.26 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02. Net sales of $7,405 million also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,202 million. However, shares of Procter & Gamble Company (PG) fell 2.3% after the company tightened its core earnings per share (EPS) guidance for the full year. The company now expects core EPS to decline 3%-6% as against the previously guided decline range of 3%–8%. Further, shares of 3M Company (MMM) declined 1.3% after the company’s first quarter revenues of $7,409 million slumped 2.2% year over year. Additionally, Corning Inc’s (GLW) shares plunged 8.4% after its first quarter revenues of $2.05 billion dropped 8.2% sequentially and 9.6% year over year. Also, core revenue of $2.17 billion was lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.22 billion. Corning was the biggest decliner among the S&P 500 companies. Separately, investors will keep a close watch on the outcome of the Fed‘s two-day policy meeting, which will end today. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SCHLUMBERGER LT (SLB): Free Stock Analysis Report EOG RES INC (EOG): Free Stock Analysis Report OCCIDENTAL PET (OXY): Free Stock Analysis Report PIONEER NAT RES (PXD): Free Stock Analysis Report CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report APPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report ALPHABET INC-A (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report FACEBOOK INC-A (FB): Free Stock Analysis Report VERIZON COMM (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report ORACLE CORP (ORCL): Free Stock Analysis Report SALESFORCE.COM (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report DU PONT (EI) DE (DD): Free Stock Analysis Report PROCTER & GAMBL (PG): Free Stock Analysis Report 3M CO (MMM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.