Wall Street stocks skidded on Tuesday as sentiment took a hit from fresh records for oil futures, a weak report on housing and cautious guidance from companies reporting earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 104.79 points (0.82 percent) to close at 12 720.23.

The Nasdaq composite retreated 31.10 points (1.29 percent) to 2376.94 and the Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index fell 12.23 points (0.88 percent) 1375.94.

The market action came as oil futures leapt to a record close of 119.37 dollars a barrel amid a tumbling dollar, unrest in Nigeria and Opec's reluctance to increase output.

Meanwhile an industry group said sales of existing US homes slid further in March, underscoring the extended slump in the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors' report showed a monthly drop of two percent and 19.3-percent plunge year-over-year in existing home sales, the largest segment of the housing market.

Analysts said the report suggests that the housing market and the economy are still far from a recovery.

"The headwinds of falling employment, tight lending standards, deteriorating credit quality and falling net worth suggest that a recovery in home sales in 2008 remains remote," said Gary Bigg, economist at Bank of America.

Stocks got off to a weak start after semiconductor maker Texas Instrument met first quarter profit estimates, but provided a weak outlook that left traders skittish.

Fred Dickson at DA Davidson said the projections going forward are seen as more significant than results from the past quarter.

"Companies delivering positive earnings surprises, while fewer at this point in the current quarter than seen back in January, appear even more reluctant than ever to translate those positive surprises into upward earnings guidance for the full year," he said.

"Earnings warnings continue to dominate"

"Earnings warnings continue to dominate the guidance offered to investors even after companies deliver earnings that top estimates. Texas Instruments is a case in point."

Among companies in focus, McDonald's fell 0.55 percent to 58.35 dollars even after the fast-food leader reported earnings topping most expectations.

Texas Instruments fell 5.79 percent to 28.82 after its earnings report, while defense group Lockheed Martin retreated 2.61 percent to 103.79, failing to benefit from higher guidance.

Chemical giant DuPont slid 4.0 percent to 50.16 dollars as it reported a rise in earnings but said future profits would be dented by a weak economy.

Among the few gainers, AT&T added 0.59 percent to 37.81 dollars on the back of its strong profit report.

In finance, Citigroup rose 0.36 percent to 25.12 dollars after the company said it raised six-billion on the sale of new preferred stock.

Bonds were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 3.720 percent from 3.712 percent on Monday while that on the 30-year bond fell to 4.475 percent against 4.476 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

AFP