US stocks lose early traction

Gains for U.S. stock indexes faded Tuesday, as Wall Street failed to follow upswings in Asia and Europe. After early gains, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 68.06 points, 0.51 percent, to 13,203.58. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index shed 8.95 points, 0.29 percent, to 3,067.26. The Standard and Poor's 500 lost 4.96 points or 0.35 percent, to 1,413.17. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,318 stocks advanced and 1,668 declined on a volume of 3.1 billion shares traded. The benchmark 10-year treasury rose 3/32, yielding 1.803 percent. The euro rose to $1.2466 from Monday's $1.2345. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 79.26 yen from 79.43 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 255 index fell to 9,156.92, dropping 14.24 points, or 0.16 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.57 percent, 33.15, to 5,857.52.