Tuesday's early trade: retail, tech stocks lead slide

The S&P 500 hit a three-week low on Tuesday, as weak earnings from retailers including Target and Kohl's as well as a fall in energy shares added to worries for Wall Street, which is still reeling from a technology selloff. Target Corp shares slumped 10.65 percent after the retailer's third-quarter profit missed analysts' estimates as investments in its online business, higher wages and price cuts hurt margins.
Department store operator Kohl's Corp shed 9.46 percent after its full-year profit forecast fell below expectations. Warnings from retailers prompted caution ahead of the holiday season, increasing selling pressure on equities as investors fret about a slowdown in global growth, peaking corporate earnings and rising interest rates.
Apple Inc shares fell 3.69 percent amid concerns about slowing demand for iPhones. The stock, which has led the market through much of its bull run, is at its lowest level since early May. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell to its lowest level in more than seven months and is now down about 14.6 percent from its record closing high in late August.
"You see some of the struggles specifically starting with the Apple guidance for the fourth quarter and then today with the retailers, which have come out with cautionary tone about the economy," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.
Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc fell 4.40 percent after it unveiled more restructuring plans in the face of worse-than-expected comparable sales numbers. TJX Cos Inc slipped 5.1 percent after the off-price retailer's holiday-quarter earnings forecast fell largely below estimates. Smaller rival Ross Stores fell 7.2 percent as its fourth-quarter forecast for same-store sales came below analysts' expectations.
The S&P 500 retailing index lost 2 percent, falling for eight straight sessions. At 11:34 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 496.90 points, or 1.99 percent, at 24,520.54, the S&P 500 was down 42.00 points, or 1.56 percent, at 2,648.73 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 96.47 points, or 1.37 percent, at 6,932.01.