U.S. markets tumble Tuesday afternoon

New York -- U.S. stock market gains dissolved rapidly Tuesday with two financial firms, Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. and Wachovia bank, leading declines.

The Wall Street Journal reported Lehman Brothers may need to raise $4 billion in capital while Wachovia fired its chief executive officer Monday after more than $700 million in first quarter losses.

By close Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 100.97 points or 0.81 percent to 12,402.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 8.02 or 0.58 percent to 1,377.65.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 11.05 or 0.44 percent to 2,480.48.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,261 stocks advanced and 1,844 declined on a volume of 1.293 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was 3.9 percent.

The dollar gained. The euro traded at $1.5456 from Monday's $1.5539, while the dollar traded at 105.14 yen from Monday's 104.55 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index lost 230.97 points to 14,209.17, off 1.6 percent.
In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 50.10 to 6,057.70, up 0.83 percent.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.