Late Downdraft Dents Wall Street's Gains

Away from the tech patch, Whole Foods (WFMI Quote) plunged 13.9% after the organic-foods mart said costs from its Wild Oats buyout ate into its fiscal second-quarter profit, which slid 13%, even as revenue soared by 27.6%. Same-store sales, or those from locations open a year or more, climbed 6.7%.

Also, Deere & Co.'s (DE Quote) fiscal second-quarter income, which surged amid strong demand for the company's farm equipment, came in just short of consensus. The tractor maker also said that rising commodity prices will probably drag on its results for the rest of the year. Shares slumped 9.9%

Late in the trading day Tuesday, Clear Channel Communications (CCU Quote) reached a buyout settlement with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital worth $36 a share, or $17.9 billion. That's $3.20 a share lower than what the companies had previously agreed on, but shares closed Tuesday higher and added 1.5% in the new session.

Among commodities, crude oil sank $1.58 to $124.22 a barrel as the Energy Information Administration reported that crude stockpiles rose by 200,000 barrels last week. Gold futures gave up $3.10 to $866.50 an ounce. The U.S. dollar firmed by 0.1% against the euro to $1.5457, while adding 0.5% against the yen at 105.30.

Treasury prices were on the rise again. The 10-year note ticked up 3/32 in price to yield 3.91%, and the 30-year bond rose 15/32 in price, yielding 4.61%.

Markets abroad were almost uniformly rising. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1% overnight, but the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo climbed 1.2%. As for Europe, London's FTSE 100 ticked up 0.1% and Germany's Xetra Dax gained 0.3%. The Paris Cac jumped 1.1%.