Stocks Slide as Greenspan Ignites Rate Hike Fears

Also, Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC Quote) 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 Quote) 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 Quote) 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 Quote) 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 Quote) 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 Quote) 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 Quote) 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 Quote) is expected to report profits of 44 cents a share, down from last year's 25 cents a share; Coca-Cola (KO Quote) is expected to report profits of 43 cents a share, up from last year's 47 cents a share; JP Morgan Chase (JPM Quote) is expected to say it earned 87 cents a share, up from 69 cents a share; and Honeywell (HON Quote) 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.