Stocks fell Tuesday, with sharp losses in banking shares, as investors remained concerned ahead of Wednesday's announcement on the U.S. economy from the Federal Reserve (Fed). Stocks fell modestly in the first half-hour of trading, but lost more momentum as new banking-sector problems surfaced and after the U.S. government said wholesale inventories fell for the 10th consecutive month. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery fell $1.15 to $69.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 96.50, or 1 percent, to 9,241.45. Twenty-six of the index's 30 components fell. Financial stocks declined, including American Express, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Travelers Companies. Other decliners included Cisco Systems, IBM, Chevron, Caterpillar, Walt Disney, and General Electric. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.75, or 1.3 percent, to 994.35. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 22.51, or 1.1 percent, to 1,969.73. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 88.43 to 6,463.62. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 5.26 to 1,680.25. And the Russell 2000 index fell 9.75 to 562.12.
