US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors took a step back from the previous session's rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.90 points, or 0.15%, to finish at 12,018.63. The S&P 500 shed 4.61 points, or 0.36%, to close at 1,293.77. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 8.22 points, or 0.31%, to 2,683.87.
Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) rallied 11 cents, 2.46%, to close at $4.47, a day after its shares were battered in the aftermath of Sunday's AT&T-T-Mobile announcement. The third-biggest US wireless provider on Tuesday unveiled a tablet and 3D smartphone.
Shares of Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) slumped more than 6% on Tuesday after the company reported quarterly results that fell short of expectations. The drugstore chain reported early Tuesday that its fiscal second quarter net income climbed to $739 million, or 80 cents a share, from $669 million, or 68 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased 8.9% to $18.5 billion from $16.99 billionAnalysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $0.80 per share on revenue of $18.38 billion.
Shares of St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) surged $2.97, or 6.13%, to $51.41. J.P. Morgan’s Michael Weinstein called the device developed by St. Jude (NYSE: STJ), known as the Quadra, “the most important new product” in implantable defibrillators in the last nine years.
Shares of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) slumped 25 cents, or 1.71%, to close at $14.34.
European stocks finished down. The UK FTSE dropped 23.38 points, or 0.40% to 5,762.71. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.52% and 0.30% respectively.
Asian stocks finished higher. The Nikkei 225 jumped 401.57 points or 4.36% to 9,608.32. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong gained 172.68 points or 0.76% to 22,857.90.
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