US stocks fell broadly on Tuesday as concerns about China and Ireland sparked a move out of riskier assets and offset strong quarterly results and upbeat forecasts from major retailers Wal-Mart and Home Depot. In a risk-averse, commodity-led slide that has become a familiar pattern over the last week and a half, crude oil futures lost 2.7 percent, copper skidded nearly 4 percent, and the dollar index spiked 1.1 percent.
That weighed on natural resource stocks such as Alcoa Inc, which fell 3.4 percent to $12.94, and Exxon Mobil Corp, which dropped 2.4 percent to $68.78. The S&P materials index and the S&P energy index led the selloff, both falling 2.7 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 193.64 points, or 1.73 percent, to 11,008.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 20.15 points, or 1.68 percent, to 1,177.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 42.45 points, or 1.69 percent, to 2,471.37. Wal-Mart rose nearly 1 percent to $54.43, while Home Depot was up 2 percent to $32.04.
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