Dow average falls most since June amid dissatisfying earnings

A series of disappointing corporate earnings reports sent stock prices sharply lower on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 243.36 points — 1.82 percent — to 13,102.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 26.50 points to 2,990.46, and the S&P 500 Stock Index lost 20.71 points to 1,413.11.

Shares of DuPont Co. (NYSE: DD) led the decline. The science and technology company reported a decline in sales revenues and said it would cut 1,500 jobs from its worldwide work force of 70,000. The shares fell $4.51, slightly more than 9 percent, to $45.25.

Commodities followed stocks lower. Oil dropped $1.98 to $86.67 a barrel, the lowest close since mid-July. Gold fell $16.90 to $1,709.40 an ounce.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), the maker of products ranging from Scotch tapes to dental braces, slumped at least 4.1 percent. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) and Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) dropped more than 3.1 percent. Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) surged 9.5 percent after posting sales that topped analysts’ projections.

“That’s the reality of the situation that investors are facing,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co., which oversees $85 billion. “There’s not much growth in the economy. There’s lack of demand. How can revenues grow?”

Thirty-three companies in the S&P 500 were scheduled to release results Tuesday. Third-quarter sales missed forecasts at 60 percent of companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings at about 70 percent of the index’s companies beat analysts’ estimates, the data showed.

Concern about a worsening of the earnings picture has sent the S&P 500 down 3.6 percent from this year’s high on Sept. 14. The decline has extended its October loss to 1.9 percent after the index capped four straight months of gains. The benchmark measure is still up 12 percent in 2012 on speculation central bankers will keep economies expanding.

All 10 groups in the S&P 500 retreated at least 0.8 percent Tuesday as commodity and financial shares had the biggest losses. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of companies most tied to economic growth declined 1.1 percent.

Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) fell 5.1 percent to $6.67. The company said third-quarter profit fell 12 percent as demand for its equipment and supplies declined.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI spot gauge of 24 raw materials fell for a third consecutive session, dropping 1.4 percent Tuesday. It first erased gains for the year in May, and the last time it happened was in July. The last annual drop was in 2008.

Refiners including Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) fell on speculation by Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) that a win by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may threaten restrictions on U.S. crude exports. Tesoro fell 4.5 percent to $36.42. Valero dropped 3.8 percent to $28.36.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) slid 3.3 percent to $613.36, after surging 4 percent Monday. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook introduced a smaller version of the iPad designed to keep customers from buying low-cost tablets from competitors Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG).

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) fell 7.6 percent to $6.54 after the bank said it would move as much as $400 million in loans to non-performing status in the fourth quarter.

Monster Beverage Corp. (Nasdaq: MNST) slid 10 percent to $41.08. The company was removed from the "Conviction Buy" list at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS). The shares tumbled 14 percent Monday after its energy drinks have been cited in the deaths of five people in the past year, according to incident reports that doctors and companies submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) surged 7.4 percent to $58.15. The luxury handbag maker reported fiscal first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates as it kept expenses for acquisitions and e-commerce from increasing too quickly.

Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) rose 5.7 percent to $16.67. New Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer outlined her turnaround strategy for the biggest U.S. Web portal, emphasizing mobile technology and personalized services.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS), which is considered an economic bellwether, rose 3 percent to $73.73. It reduced the top end of its 2012 profit forecast after posting third-quarter earnings that matched analysts’ estimates, buoyed by a gain in U.S. package volumes and international exports.