Wall Street forfeits gains after Germany bomb report

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks erased gains on Tuesday after a report that a soccer match between Germany and Netherlands was called off due to concerns of a bomb attack.

All three major U.S. indexes had been in positive territory following upbeat earnings reports from Wal-Mart and Home Depot . But they quickly gave up those gains after a German official said on television that the friendly match was cancelled less than two hours before its start for fear of a bomb attack on the stadium in Hanover.

"These situations create uncertainty and in uncertain times everyone goes to cash," said Mohannad Aama, Managing Director, Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.

 

Despite the market's reversal, Wal-Mart was up 3.28 percent and Home Depot climbed 3.88 percent, pushing the S&P 500 retail index <.SPXRT> up 0.81 pct.

Home Depot rival Lowe's rose 1.94 percent and Target added 1.12 percent. Both report their quarterly results on Wednesday.

Data on Tuesday offered a mixed view of the health of the U.S. economy - consumer prices increased in October after two straight months of declines, while industrial production fell.

The modest rise in inflation could bolster chances of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates next month, but weak industrial output raised concerns about the robustness of fourth-quarter economic growth.

On Monday, Wall Street opened lower because of concerns about last week's deadly attacks in Paris but the major indexes recovered and ended up with their strongest session in three weeks as investors bet the tragedy would have little long-term impact on the U.S. economy and corporate earnings.

At 3:04 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 0.01 percent at 17,480.54 and the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.18 percent to 2,049.59. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> declined 0.02 percent to 4,983.66.

Six of the 10 major S&P sectors were down, with the utilities sector's <.SPLRCU> 1.91 percent drop leading the decliners.

Shares of dietary supplement makers sank after federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, said they would announce criminal actions related to unlawful advertising and sale of dietary supplements.

GNC Holdings plunged 12.1 percent, Vitamin Shoppe fell nearly 8 percent and Herbalife lost 3.06 percent.

Underscoring the uneven performance among retailers, Urban Outfitters dropped 6.62 percent and Dick's Sporting Goods lost 11.66 percent after handing in quarterly report cards that disappointed investors.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,920 to 1,121. On the Nasdaq, 1,528 issues fell and 1,237 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 10 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and 134 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Andrew Hay and Chizu Nomiyama)