Stocks Slide as Greenspan Ignites Rate Hike Fears

Also, Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC) beat expectations, narrowing its loss and more than doubling its fourth-quarter revenue. Its stock closed down 22 cents, or 4%, to $5.30, but it recently gained 4% in after-hours trading.

Earlier Tuesday, shares of Sony (SNE) closed up 68 cents, or 1.6%, to $42.23 after the electronics and entertainment giant raised its guidance for the fiscal year just ended. The company said it expects to earn $714.8 million on sales of $69.44 billion for the year, up about 60% from its January earnings forecast. It was helped by foreign exchange gains, lower taxes in the U.S. and increased profits by affiliates.

Among early earnings reporters, Pfizer (PFE) said first-quarter earnings fell from a gain-swollen year-ago period despite a big jump in sales. The drugmaker earned $2.33 billion, or 30 cents a share, in the latest quarter, compared with $4.67 billion, or 76 cents a share, last year. Pfizer earned 52 cents a share before items, beating estimates by a penny. Its shares closed down 88 cents, or 2.3%, to $36.70.

General Motors posted weaker first-quarter results from a year ago but beat expectations, reporting earnings of $1.28 billion, or $2.25 a share, down from last year's $1.48 billion, or $2.71 a share. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.79 a share after a drop in the automaker's defense business. Its shares rose 4.5%, while its rival Ford (F) gained 3.7% ahead of its announcement scheduled for Wednesday morning. Its shares closed up $1.62, or 3.5%, to $47.77.

Altria's (MO) earnings were flat with a year ago, thanks to a one-time charge, while revenue jumped almost 13% on solid results in both its domestic and international cigarette business. The company earned $2.19 billion, or $1.07 a share. The latest quarter included charges totaling 9 cents a share for the restructuring of Altria's food operations and other items. Revenue rose to $21.84 billion in the latest quarter from $19.37 billion last year. Its shares closed down 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $56.33.

Wells Fargo (WFC) said its profits rose 18%, helped by a jump in consumer lending and a decline in bad loans. Its net income beat Wall Street's consensus estimate of 98 cents a share, totaling $1.77 billion, or $1.03 a share, up from last year's $1.49 billion, or 88 cents a share. Its shares closed down 55 cents, or 1%, to $55.36.

Lucent (LU) swung to a second-quarter profit and matched Wall Street's consensus estimate, benefiting from extensive cost-cutting that more than offset a drop in revenue. It reported net income of $68 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a loss of $351 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Its shares closed down 44 cents, or 10.2%, to $3.89.

Overseas markets were mostly higher. London's FTSE closed up 0.5% to 4569 and Germany's Xetra DAX added 0.9% to 4061. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.6% to 11,952, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.5% to 12,394.

The stream of earnings news will continue Wednesday, with more than 70 companies scheduled to announce first-quarter results. Ford (F) is expected to report profits of 44 cents a share, down from last year's 25 cents a share; Coca-Cola (KO) is expected to report profits of 43 cents a share, up from last year's 47 cents a share; JP Morgan Chase (JPM) is expected to say it earned 87 cents a share, up from 69 cents a share; and Honeywell (HON) is expected to say it earned 30 cents a share, down from last year's 32 cents a share.

On the economic front, the Fed will release its Beige Book, a report on economic conditions around the country.

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