U.S. stocks slide on weak data, earnings

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after weaker-than-expected data on durable-goods orders triggered fears that economic growth is slowing.

Durable-goods orders fell 3.4% in December, raising questions about whether businesses are really ready to ramp up investment in 2015.

A string of disappointing earnings reports from companies such as Microsoft Corp., Caterpillar Inc., DuPont and Freeport-MoMoRan Inc. also dented sentiment.

The S&P 500 index SPX, -1.32% losses were led by technology sector stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.70% dropped more than 280 points, with nearly all 30 stocks on the index trading lower. Microsoft and Caterpillar were leading losses, down 10% and 7%, respectively.

The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.76% fell sharply as Apple Inc., its largest component, slid more than 1% ahead of its earnings results.

The durable-goods report was another big miss: Economists had expected a modest rise, but orders fell 3.4% in December, and November data were also revised downward. Analysts pointed out that data will make the Federal Reserve's task of raising rates this year harder, given weakness in the U.S. and abroad.

Separately, U.S. house prices edged back by 0.2% in November, to lower the year-over-year advance to 4.3%, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite released Tuesday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, home prices advanced 0.7%, the report said.

The consumer confidence index jumped in January to the best reading since August 2007. New-home sales rose 11.6% in December.