Dow falls below 100 on weak earnings reports

Stocks are sliding on Wall Street on Tuesday after some weak earnings reports from United Parcel Service and other major U.S. companies. The market was headed for its third loss in a row.

Just before noon, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 114.5 points at 12,607. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was off 11 points at 1,339.6. The Nasdaq composite had fallen 14.4 points to 2,875.8.

Cisco Systems fell the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow, nearly 5 percent, after the network equipment maker announced its latest round of staff cuts.

UPS cut its earnings forecast 4 percent for the year. The package delivery company cited global economic weakness and fear among its customers of a downturn. UPS' stock fell $3.45, or 4.4 percent, $74.50.

Chemical maker DuPont posted a 3 percent decline in net income for the second quarter on slower business in Europe and Asia. DuPont also reported revenue that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. DuPont lost 58 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $48.13.

Also weighing on stocks was a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond indicating that manufacturing in the central-Atlantic region is contracting, following reports of pullbacks in the New York and Philadelphia regions.

"The economic data is raising questions about whether earnings won't weaken even more," said Carl Yingst, chief market analyst at Joseph Gunner, an investment bank. "Our guess is we haven't seen the worst."

In other corporate news:

-- Altria Group said its net income nearly tripled in the second quarter. Stock prices in the maker of Marlboro cigarettes rose to $35.62.

-- AT&T fell 1.9 percent after posting net income and revenue lower than what Wall Street analysts expected.

-- DeVry plunged $7.38, or 27 percent, to $20.18, the biggest drop in the S&P 500 index. The for-profit education company said enrollment is falling, forcing it to cut 570 jobs. The company also projected that its profit for the latest quarter will come in well short of analyst estimates.