Global Markets Sink Again as Tech and Retail Stocks Drop

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are skidding Tuesday morning, putting the market back into the red for the year, as weak results from retailers and mounting losses for big technology companies compound the market’s losses from the day before. Energy and industrial companies are also dropping.

Target plunged after reporting earnings that missed Wall Street’s estimates, while Ross Stores, TJX and Kohl’s all gave disappointing forecasts. High-profile tech and consumer companies including Apple, Amazon and Microsoft continued to sink.

Boeing fell following reports it canceled a conference call where the company planned to discuss systems on its 737 jet. A Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff in Indonesia last month, killing 189 people.

The S&P 500 index lost 45 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,645 as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time. The benchmark index is now about 10 percent below the peak it reached in late September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 568 points, or 2.3 percent, to 24,442. The Nasdaq composite lost 184 points, or 2.7 percent, to 6,842. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks shed 29 points, or 2 percent, to 1,466.

Investors continued to flee the technology giants that have led the stock market higher in years past. Apple fell 3.4 percent to $179.62 and Amazon gave up 3.8 percent to $1,455. Microsoft lost 3 percent to $101.50. All three stocks have outperformed the market this year, but they’ve suffered steep losses more recently.

Tech stocks were among the biggest losers in Europe, too. Nokia, a big supplier of telecom networks, saw its shares drop 4 percent, while its Swedish rival Ericsson was down 3.5 percent. SAP, which provides business software and cloud computing services, was down over 2 percent. Chip maker Infineon Technologies fell about 3 percent.

Target skidded 9 percent to $70.22 after it said its growing investments in its online business and in stores are bringing in shoppers, but are affecting its profits. Department store Kohl’s gave up 9.8 percent to $64.01 and TJX, the parent of TJ Maxx, fell 2.1 percent to $47.88. Discount chain Ross Stores slid 4.4 percent to $87.18.

Boeing fell 3.3 percent to $310.43.

Investors looked for safer options. Utility companies managed small gains and bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.04 percent from 3.06 percent.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX index lost 1.4 percent and France’s CAC 40 shed 1.1 percent. London’s FTSE 100 retreated 0.7 percent.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.1 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 2 percent while Seoul’s Kospi retreated 0.9 percent.

Nissan fell over 5 percent in Asia as traders there got their first chance to react to the news that its chairman, Carlos Ghosn, who engineered a turnaround at the automaker, was arrested on charges he underreported his income and misused company funds and will be fired.

Nissan said Ghosn and another senior executive, Greg Kelly, were accused of offenses discovered during an investigation set off by a whistleblower. Kelly also was arrested. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance sold 10.6 million cars last year, more than any other manufacturer. Renault shares dropped 8.4 percent on Monday and another 2.5 percent Tuesday.

Stocks sank Monday as investors focused on simmering trade tension between Washington and Beijing after the two governments clashed at a weekend conference. The two countries have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods in a fight over China’s technology policy.

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are due to meet this month at a gathering of the Group of 20 major economies. Investors didn’t react much as the trade dispute ramped up, but more recently they’ve gotten concerned it will drag on and hinder global economic growth.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost 5.8 percent to $53.84 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 3.8 percent to $64.28 per barrel in London. Oil prices were little changed Monday, but they’ve plunged since early October.

The dollar fell to 112.40 yen from 112.54 yen. The euro fell to $1.14 from $1.1453.

AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP