Stocks Fall, S&P 500 Ends Below 1,700

U.S. stocks extended losses into a second day on Tuesday, after comments from a pair of U.S. Federal Reserve officials left  investors uncertain about the timing of a possible reduction in its bond-buying program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was  down 93.39 points, or 0.60%, at 15,518.74. The S&P 500 index lost 9.77 points, or 0.57%, to 1,697.37, its first finish below  1,700 this month. The Nasdaq Composite shed 27.18 points, or 0.74%, to 3,665.77.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) said late Tuesday it earned $1.85 billion, or $1.01 a share in its fiscal third quarter, up from $1.83 billion, or $1.01 in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, EPS rose to $1.03, the entertainment conglomerate said. Sales rose 4% to $11.58 billion.

First Solar inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) reported late Tuesday its second-quarter profit fell to $33.6 million, or 37 cents a share,  from $111 million, or $1.27 a share, a year ago. Adjusted to exclude one-time items, the company earned 39 cents a share.  Revenue for the quarter ended June 30 fell to $519.8 million from $957.3 million.

The U.S. government on Tuesday filed two civil lawsuits against Bank of America for what the Justice Department and securities  regulators said was a fraud on investors involving $850 million of residential mortgage-backed securities.