Stocks fell on Tuesday as investors worried there were too few catalysts to sustain the recent rally near term, sending financial and technology shares lower.

Among the top drags were Bank of America Corp , down 2.6 percent to $12.61, and JPMorgan Chase & Co off 3 percent to $34.77. The KBW Bank Index <.BKX> dropped 3.8 percent.

Among technology shares, Apple Inc weighed on the Nasdaq, falling 2.6 percent to $126.33. A semiconductor index <.SOXX> dipped 3 percent.

At this point there are not a lot of new reasons to buy stocks. Earnings seasons is over, and we've got through the stress tests, said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Advisors in Boston.

There are always stocks that we were fortunate enough to own around the low, and we've ridden them up pretty well, we've got some pretty good gains, he continued, citing Bank of America. We've been taking partial profits in those sectors.

Financial and technology stocks led the recent rally, and with earnings season and bank stress tests out of the way investors found little to sustain the rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was off 2.86 points, or 0.03 percent, to 8,415.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slipped 3.99 points, or 0.44 percent, to 905.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gave up 20.67 points, or 1.2 percent, at 1,710.57.

Energy shares, including Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp , edged higher, cushioning Dow industrials, as oil rose 0.4 percent to $58.76 per barrel. Defensive stocks, such as Merck & Co Inc and Pfizer Inc

, also boosted the blue-chip index.

Exxon rose 1.5 percent to $70.29, while Chevron added 1 percent to $68.73. Pfizer gained 5 percent to $14.83, and Merck added 2.5 percent to $25.

Since reaching 12-year closing lows in early March, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 are up around 30 percent.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe.)

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