BackUS stocks reverse early gains; materials, energy lead decline
Dow Jones falls 0.45%, S&P 500 loses 0.61%, Nasdaq drops 0.4%
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New York: US stocks fell in afternoon trading on Tuesday, reversing earlier gains, led by a drop in materials and energy shares.
The S&P 500 around midday broke below its 50-day moving average, triggering further selling. The major indices had all been up more than 1% earlier.
Shares of homebuilders fell broadly after KB Home forecast a drop in gross margins for the first quarter. Homebuilder stocks had been up earlier in the session, but KB Home was last down 13.7%, while a housing index was down 0.9%.
Among materials shares, Alcoa Inc shares were down 2%, also having reversed earlier gains. The company late Monday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit due to automotive demand, higher aluminum prices and lower energy costs. The S&P materials index was down 1.6%.
At 1:54 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 78.6 points, or 0.45%, to 17,562.24, the S&P 500 lost 12.29 points, or 0.61%, to 2,015.97 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 18.58 points, or 0.4%, to 4,646.13.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,960 to 1,086, for a 1.80-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,635 issues fell and 1,037 advanced for a 1.58-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.
The S&P energy index was down 1.2%. Brent and US crude touched their lowest levels in almost six years as a big OPEC producer stood by the group’s decision not to cut output.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber stumbled 6.8% and was the S&P 500’s biggest percentage decliner after the estimated full-year operating income growth “slightly below" its forecast of 10 to 15%. Reuters
Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak.
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