Tuesday's early afternoon trade: Wall Street slides

US stocks slid 1 percent on Tuesday as a fall in home sales last month that exceeded even the most pessimistic estimates confirmed investor fears the economic recovery is fragile. Home building and related stocks managed to pare losses after a steep decline earlier, but financial stocks suffered a sharp blow on fears that falling home values could result in new loan losses.
The KBW Bank index shed 2 percent, hitting its lowest level since the beginning of the year. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 96.19 points, or 0.95 percent, at 10,078.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 11.53 points, or 1.08 percent, at 1,055.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 25.46 points, or 1.18 percent, at 2,134.17. The Russell 2000 index was down 0.7 percent at 598.32, testing its July low of 587.67.