NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are sliding following weak earnings from United Parcel Service and other major U.S. companies. The market was headed for its third loss in a row.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 119 points to 12,603 at midday Tuesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 12 points to 1,339. The Nasdaq dropped 16 points, to 2,874.
UPS fell $3.78, or nearly 5 percent, to $74.17 after cutting its earnings forecast 4 percent for the year because of the global economic slowdown. Chemical maker DuPont posted a 3 percent decline in net income. Its stock lost 45 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $48.26.
A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond indicated that manufacturing in the central-Atlantic region is contracting. That followed reports of pullbacks in New York and Philadelphia.
