U.S. stocks close lower ahead of July 4 holiday

All main benchmarks closed lower Tuesday in abbreviated trading ahead of the July 4th holiday as investors dumped technology shares. The weakness in the tech sector follows on the heels of news that a Chinese court blocked the sale of Micron Technology Inc. chips in the country, prompting the stock to sink 5.5%. The move is related to a probe by Chinese regulators into high price of memory products. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 112 points, or 0.5%, to close at 24,194. The S&P 500 dropped 12 points, or 0.5%, to end at 2,714 while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 65 points, or 0.9%, to close at 7,502. The market is closed Wednesday for Independence Day holiday.