Investing.com – U.S. stock markets fell sharply after the open on Tuesday, as concerns over the fragile global economic recovery mounted ahead of the release of key U.S. home sales data.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.04%; the S&P 500 index plunged 1.15% and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 1.31%.
Shares in medical technology company Medtronic tumbled 9.06% in early trade after the company reported that first quarter earnings fell year-on-year.
Elsewhere in the corporate sector, Barnes & Noble shares dropped 3.27% after the world's largest book retailer reported first-quarter losses of USD 62.5 million as the company was hit by falling sales.
In mergers news, shares of data storage company 3PAR gained 3.07% after reports of a bidding war between technology giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard, who are both attempting to acquire the company.
Meanwhile, shares in Dell fell 4.61% while Hewlett-Packard shares declined 0.90%.
In the commodities sector, crude oil prices plummeted 1.16% to hit USD 72.08 a barrel, dropping for the third consecutive day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were also in the red: France’s CAC 40 nosedived 1.88%; Germany's DAX dropped 1.42%; Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.75%; and the EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.85%.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that industrial new orders in the euro zone rose more-than-expected in June, while Germany’s gross domestic product grew at its fastest pace in the second quarter since German reunification in 1990.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.04%; the S&P 500 index plunged 1.15% and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 1.31%.
Shares in medical technology company Medtronic tumbled 9.06% in early trade after the company reported that first quarter earnings fell year-on-year.
Elsewhere in the corporate sector, Barnes & Noble shares dropped 3.27% after the world's largest book retailer reported first-quarter losses of USD 62.5 million as the company was hit by falling sales.
In mergers news, shares of data storage company 3PAR gained 3.07% after reports of a bidding war between technology giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard, who are both attempting to acquire the company.
Meanwhile, shares in Dell fell 4.61% while Hewlett-Packard shares declined 0.90%.
In the commodities sector, crude oil prices plummeted 1.16% to hit USD 72.08 a barrel, dropping for the third consecutive day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were also in the red: France’s CAC 40 nosedived 1.88%; Germany's DAX dropped 1.42%; Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.75%; and the EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.85%.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that industrial new orders in the euro zone rose more-than-expected in June, while Germany’s gross domestic product grew at its fastest pace in the second quarter since German reunification in 1990.