U.S. stocks retreat as oil tops $104 a barrel

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock indexes fell modestly Tuesday after a three-session surge, as events in Japan and Libya helped propel oil above $104 a barrel.

U.S. war plane crashes in Libya


A U.S. war plane crashes in Libya, and its crew members ejected safely.

“As the market settles in after a three-day run-up, the fear trade is back,” said David Pankiw, partner at Cubic Financial Advisors. “There is a lot of doubt in the market and global situation. This is pushing crude oil up and with the concern that Japan will need more oil to make up the loss of nuclear” power.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for May delivery /quotes/comstock/21n!f:cl\k11 (CLK11 105.00, +1.91, +1.85%) gained $1.24 to $104.33.
“The market is paying attention to everything — it’s just not sure how to react,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, pointing to uncertainty about how events will play out in Japan and Libya.
At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 12,017, -20.02, -0.17%) fell 18.17 points, or 0.2%, to 12,018.44. On Monday, the blue-chip average posted its biggest gain since a three-day run that ended Sept. 3, 2010, and finished above 12,000 for the first time since Japan’s March 11 earthquake.
Nineteen of the Dow’s 30 components tallied losses in recent trade, led by Bank of America Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!bac/quotes/nls/bac (BAC 13.90, -0.15, -1.08%) , off 1.1%.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,294, -4.64, -0.36%) shed 4.64 points, or 0.4%, to 1,293.74, with industrials the worst performing of its 10 industry groups and telecommunications stocks faring the best.
The Nasdaq Composite Index /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp (COMP 2,683, -9.57, -0.36%) dropped 12.28 points, or 0.5%, to 2,679.81. TODAY'S TOP MARKET STORIES



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Among individual stocks, Walgreen Co.’s /quotes/comstock/13*!wag/quotes/nls/wag (WAG 39.03, -2.94, -7.01%) shares tumbled 6.4% after the drugstore chain said its quarterly profit rose 10%, but investors were disappointed by its profit margin. Read more about Walgreen’s results.
Other active stocks included Netflix Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!nflx/quotes/nls/nflx (NFLX 220.06, +7.22, +3.39%) , which rose 3.3% after Credit Suisse upgraded the online-video and DVD supplier on the belief that Netflix will expand its services overseas. Read more about upgrade of Netflix.
Carnival Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!ccl/quotes/nls/ccl (CCL 38.83, -2.18, -5.31%) fell 4.1% after the cruise-line operator projected quarterly earnings below expectations, as rising energy costs dented its profits.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s /quotes/comstock/13*!bmy/quotes/nls/bmy (BMY 26.38, +0.38, +1.45%) shares rose 1.4% after the company announced that its much-awaited melanoma drug improved the length of survival.
Decliners edged ahead of advancers by a roughly 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 422 million shares traded by 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
Global worries


The nuclear crisis in Japan and fighting in Libya have set the stage for volatile markets in recent sessions, with the Dow industrials making triple-digit moves in four of the past five trading days.
“While the [Japanese] reactor seems to be stabilizing, [we need to see] what comes next in terms of rebuilding and the impact on commodity prices,” Miller Tabak’s Boockvar said.
Boockvar downplayed the impact of Tuesday’s economic reports, which showed home prices sliding in January and a measure of manufacturing in the Virginia region slipping in March from February.
“The data is old news; it’s pre-spike in oil prices and pre-earthquake. We may have to wait for first-quarter earnings to see the impact,” Boockvar said.
“The reflex rally in the equity market that began last Thursday appears to be slowing down. Given the rapid three-day bounce off last week’s low, it is not surprising to see some traders consider taking quick profits,” Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Cos., wrote in an email.