U.S. indices were pointed sharply down Tuesday.The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was falling 0.9%.
Crude prices were also declining Tuesday, with industry benchmark Brent crude contracts falling $0.86 to $44.97 per barrel while West Texas crude fell $1.22 to $43.56 per barrel.
Yelp (YELP) shares were up more than 4% on heavy volume midday after hedge fund manager David Einhorn unveiled a new stake in the online restaurant review company.
AIG (AIG) shares were down 1.3% on heavy volume following the release of the insurer's latest quarterly results. The company reported a 47% decline in bottom-line, first-quarter results, reporting earnings of $0.65 per share, well below analysts' $0.99 EPS guidance.
General Motors (GM) shares were down more than 1% following the release of its April auto sales numbers. The company reported its 12th consecutive month of climbing retail sales. The country's largest automaker delivered 259,557 vehicles in April; however, that is a 3.5% decrease from the same month last year. Analysts on average were expecting the company to report a sales drop of just 1.7% in the month.
Shares of Dividend Stock Advisor holding Ford (F) were down 1.1% following the automaker's April sales release. Ford reported a 3.6% increase in April U.S. sales to 222,498 vehicles sold. This was the company's best April sales month in 10 years. However, analysts on average were expecting the company to report an increase of 3.8%.
Shares of Pfizer (PFE) were up more than 3% midday following its earnings release. The drug company reported first-quarter earnings of $0.67 per share, well ahead of analysts' $0.55 per share expectations for the quarter. Revenue for the period rose 20% year over year to $13.01 billion, also ahead of Wall Street's $12 billion expectations.
Sprint (S) shares were rising after the company announced plans to cut more than $2 billion in costs this fiscal year. The company reported a net loss of $0.06 per share, a narrower loss than the $0.12 per share analysts were expecting for the period.
