US stocks have closed lower, unable to maintain early gains as tech stocks dragged on sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 68.06 points (0.51 per cent) to finish at 13,203.58.

The S&P 500-stock index fell 4.96 points (0.35 per cent) to 1413.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 8.95 (0.29 per cent) to 3067.26.

“Stocks gained initial ground amid optimism that the ECB may act to help lower the region’s borrowing costs, but losses in tech weighed on the market,” analysts at Wells Fargo Advisors said.

Investors also booked profits from recent market gains that had brought the main indices near multi-year highs and Apple to an all-time record, analysts said.

Shares in Best Buy, the struggling consumer electronics retailer, fell 1.4 per cent on disappointing quarterly earnings and revenues, after losing 10.4 per cent on Monday.

Best Buy said it would not give further earnings guidance for its fiscal year. On Monday, it named a turnaround specialist as chief executive, Hubert Joly.

Apple dropped 1.4 per cent to $US656.06, a day after closing at a record high and becoming the world’s largest public company ever on speculation the iconic tech giant soon will release new versions of iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV devices.

Facebook dived 4.3 per cent to $US19.16 after Peter Thiel, who invested in the company first in 2004, sold off nearly 80 per cent of his huge holding.

Tech titan Dell fell 1.8 per cent ahead of its quarterly earnings report due after the closing bell.

US bond prices were mixed. The 10-year Treasury yield was nearly unchanged from Monday at 1.81 per cent, while the 30-year fell to 2.91 per cent from 2.93 per cent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.