Stocks Slide on Fed Stimulus

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, derailing a long-running winning streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as investors  took profits on speculation the Federal Reserve may reduce its economic stimulus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 76.49 points, 0.50%, to 15,177.54. The S&P 500 index declined 9.04 points, 0.55%, to 1,631.38. The Nasdaq Composite lost 20.11 points, 0.58%, to 3,445.25.

The U.S. trade deficit with other nations shot up 8.5% in April, triggered by a surge in Chinese imports following the  end of a major holiday season in the giant Asian country. The trade gap widened to a seasonally adjusted $40.3 billion  from a revised $37.1 billion in March, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Gold futures , relinquishing the $1,400 level they had reclaimed just a day earlier. Investors continued to search for clues on the Federal Reserve’s plans for its bond-purchase program, which has been supportive for gold. August gold lost $14.70, or 1%, to settle at $1,397.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The race to buy up providers of business services over the internet intensifed on Tuesday with two industry giants making  aquisitions worth a combined $4.5bn, underlining how so-called cloud computing is reshaping the information technology industry.

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