U.S. stocks end lower, losing gains on worries about economy and euro zone; Apple's off 6%

 

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)
U.S. stocks dropped Wednesday, piling up losses in the final hours of trading, on conflicting signs from Europe about a potentially bigger plan to stave off a messy sovereign default; disappointing earnings from heavyweight Apple, Inc. and some signs of continued strain on the economy from the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 72.43 points, or 0.6%, to 11,504.62, led by more than 3% drops in Alcoa Inc. and Bank of America Corp. shares.
The S&P 500 fell 15.5 points, or 1.3%, to 1,209.88, led by a pullback in natural-resource stocks.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 53.4 points, or 2%, to 2,604.04.