Banks, Tesla tumble as US stocks retreat

New York - US stocks retreated in early trade on Tuesday as banks fell and electric-car maker Tesla Motors was hit by selling after disappointing production figures.

With the market looking to Friday's release of June US jobs data, about 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17 838.32, down 0.6%.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 2 087.19, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.9% at 4 818.24.

Tesla dropped 3.7% as second-quarter production came in at 18 345 cars, below the 20 000 it forecast.

The weak figures added to other difficulties facing Tesla, including a negative reception for its proposed purchase of SolarCity and a fatal crash involving Tesla's self-driving system.

Lower oil prices hit the energy sector, with Halliburton, Anadarko Petroleum and Devon Energy all losing around 3%.

Banking shares also dropped, with Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase all down about 2%.

Delta Air Lines fell 4.4% after it reported that a key benchmark of revenue per passenger fell 5.0% in June.

Netflix fell 3.3% following a downgrade from Needham.