NEW YORK — Wall Street retreated Tuesday after aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. issued disappointing reports and the Federal Reserve voiced concerns about the slumping economy.
Stocks were already lower on worries about weak first- quarter earnings when the minutes from the Fed’s March 18 meeting were released. The minutes showed that some central-bank officials, who forecast that the economy would contract during the first half, were concerned about the possibility of a “prolonged and severe” business downturn.
The minutes indicated that Fed officials were conflicted over how much more interest rates could be reduced at the expense of higher inflation. The combination of a slow economy with not much room for interest-rate cuts rattled investors and sent the Dow Jones industrials to a loss of 86 points, but the blue chips regained some ground in the final hour of trading.
The market’s overall steadiness indicated to analysts that investors are more level-headed than they were a few weeks ago, when the global banking system was in crisis and Bear Stearns Cos. was forced to accept a buyout from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The Dow fell 35.99, 0.29 percent, to 12,576.44.
Broader stock indicators also dropped. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7.00, 0.51 percent, to 1,365.54, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 16.07, 0.68 percent, to 2,348.76.
