US stocks fell broadly on Tuesday, with American Express, Boeing and Intel among the decliners as jitters intensified over Europe's ability to control a debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 114.88 points (1.08%) to 10,510.95, its lowest close since May 7.
American Express led the measure's drop with a slide of $1.38 (3.4%) to $39.84. Meanwhile, Boeing fell $1.95 (2.8%) to $67.72, and Intel fell 59 cents (2.7%) to $21.43. Home Depot was also weak, down 86 cents (2.4%) to $34.73. The home-improvement retailer's fiscal first-quarter earnings jumped 41%, and the company boosted its current-year sales and earnings forecasts. But shares fell as the full-year guidance was cautious.
Just one Dow component ended Tuesday's session in the black: Wal-Mart Stores. The discount retail giant's shares climbed 98 cents (1.9%) to $53.70, after the company's fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 10%, beating its own forecast, as revenue increased.
The Nasdaq Composite declined 36.97 (1.57%) to 2,317.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 16.14 (1.42%) to 1,120.80. All the S&P 500's sectors ended the session in the red, led by financials.
The drop in US stocks came as the euro fell to a four-year low on continued concerns over whether the bailout plan announced last week will be enough to contain sovereign-debt woes in the euro zone. Helping exacerbate the concerns, Germany's finance ministry said the country would ban naked short-selling of shares in 10 leading German financial institutions and in euro government bonds.
Fidelity National Information Services fell $1.73 (6%) to $27.15, after takeover talks for the financial-data processor collapsed. A consortium led by Blackstone Group had been planning to acquire Fidelity. Fidelity said it would now pursue a leveraged recapitalisation with a "substantial" share repurchase. Blackstone Group slipped 45 cents (3.7%) to $11.63.
A number of retail stocks fell on cautious second-quarter and full-year outlooks. Among them, Dick's Sporting Goods dropped 98 cents (3.4%) to $27.50, as the sporting-good retailer's projected range for second-quarter earnings was below analysts' views at the low end and met expectations at the high end. TJX slipped $1.57 (3.5%) to $43.68, as the high end of its second-quarter forecast also merely met analysts' estimate.
VeriSign jumped $1.39 (5.2%) to $28.23. Symantec is close to a deal to acquire a unit of VeriSign for about $1.3bn, it was reported. The deal would give Symantec control of VeriSign's authentication business, which had $410m in revenue in 2009 and sells products that businesses use to encrypt and protect information. However, Symantec slipped 33 cents (2%) to $15.95.
Visa fell $4.62 (6.2%) to $70.09, while MasterCard dropped $8 (3.8%) to $202.81, on fears that the companies' credit-card businesses as well as the debit-card side could be hurt by amendments to the Senate's financial regulation bill. Visa Chief Executive Joe Saunders said on Tuesday the amendments, which could give the Federal Reserve the authority to regulate fees per swipe and allow merchants to set minimum purchase amounts for using a card, also address minimums for credit cards. Previously, investors had been expecting the amendments to deal primarily with the debit side of the business.