Wednesday's early afternoon trade: Wall Street slips

US stocks fell on Wednesday as Germany's decision to ban naked short-selling of certain financial instruments fanned investor worries about exposure to riskier assets and about the global economy. Shares of industrial companies, which tend to rely heavily on overseas sales, led losses.
Caterpillar was down 3.3 percent at $61.09, while shares of Boeing was down 2.9 percent at $65.72. Microsoft, down 1.1 percent at $28.29, was among the top drags on the Nasdaq. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 76.63 points, or 0.73 percent, at 10,434.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 5.95 points, or 0.53 percent, at 1,114.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 17.81 points, or 0.77 percent, at 2,299.45.