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New York - Wall Street stocks finished sharply lower on Tuesday following a disappointing stream of corporate earnings and mixed US economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 291.49 points to 17 387.21.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 27.54 points to 2 029.55, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 90.27 points to 4 681.50.
Dow component Caterpillar sank 7.2% as earnings suffered due to weakness in the oil sector, while Microsoft slumped 9.3% on a disappointing outlook. Other big companies also dropped following poor results.
"I think what we're seeing is concern on both the economics and earnings front," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at S&P Capital IQ.
Investors were troubled by a 3.4% drop in US durable goods orders in December, which offset a Conference Board report that said US consumer confidence jumped in January to its highest level in more than seven years.
Several large technology stocks were battered following the Microsoft outlook. Dow member Intel lost 4.5%, Cisco shed 3.8% and Google fell 3.1%.
Apple, which was scheduled to report earnings after the market closed, dropped 3.5%.
Dow member Procter & Gamble shed 3.5% as second-quarter net income dropped 31% to $2.4bn in part due to the strong dollar.
Mining giant Freeport-McMoRan lost 6.0% as it reported a $2.9bn fourth-quarter loss, primarily due to a $3.4bn charge on the value of oil properties. Lower metals prices also marred results.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 1.21% from 1.82% on Monday night, while the 30-year dipped to 2.39% from 2.40%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
