Stock Market Closes Near Lows, VIX Pops, As Trump Warns N. Korea Of 'fire And Fury'

U.S. stock-market benchmarks ended in the red on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump issued a verbal warning to North Korea amid mounting tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. The Dow Jones Industrial Average [s" DJIA] slipped 0.2%, and ended the blue-chip gauge's attempt at a 10th straight close in record territory. The S&P 500 index closed off 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 0.2% on the day. The three major equity benchmarks dipped firmly lower, before coming off lows, in late-afternoon activity following President Trump's warning that North Korea would be met with "fire and fury" if the Hermit kingdom continues to provoke the U.S. with missile tests and acerbic rhetoric. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," Trump said from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. The comments come as as the Washington Post reported that North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that it can fit inside a missile, a fact that, if true, further escalates global tensions. Trump's comments during his vacation also bumped the so-called fear index, CBOE Volatility Index , slightly higher, up 11%, at 10.98. That still represents a historically low reading for the index, which is used to bet on sharp swings in the S&P 500 index 30 days in the future.