Stocks Sag in Tuesday Trading

Oil proved stronger than aluminum on Wall Street Tuesday as concerns about crude prices and supplies overshadowed a strong first-quarter earnings from aluminum giant Alcoa Inc.

The Dow Jones industrials fell 51.70, or 0.46 percent, to 11089.63. The Nasdaq took the biggest percentile hit, dropping 0.98 percent, or 22.92 points, to 2310.35. The S&P 500 tumbled 10.82, or 0.83 percent, to 1285.80.

Crude-oil prices remained around $69 per barrel Tuesday, and a report forecast that gasoline prices at the pump this summer will average about $2.62 per gallon, a jump of 25 cents over the current average. Meanwhile, tensions continued to build today between the U.S. and oil-rich Iran over the latter nation’s nuclear plans.

For its part, Alcoa stock performed well Tuesday, gaining 1.26, or 3.84 percent, to close at $34.09. Following Monday’s close, the aluminum producer announced Q1 earnings of 69 cents a share, more than double last year’s Q1 profit of 30 cents per share and far above analysts’ estimates.

The biggest loser among tech stocks was data management software vendor Embarcadero Technologies Inc. , which plummeted 1.40, or 18.42 percent, to $6.20 after lowering revenue and earnings guidance for the first quarter.

Shares of search giant Google fell 6.72, or 1.61 percent, to $409.66, despite news that the company had outbid Yahoo and Microsoft to gain rights to a new search technology called Orion. Yahoo slid 1.16, or 3.56 percent, to $31.39, while Microsoft dipped 16 cents, or 0.59 percent, to $27.13.

Sun Microsystems dropped 10 cents, or 1.96 percent, to $5.01. On Tuesday Sun announced plans for an open-source enterprise development tool project.

Cellular phone maker Nokia jumped 79 cents, or 3.87 percent, to $21.19 after the Finnish company reported the average selling price of their phones in Q1 was higher than expected.