Stocks slide on economic weakness

U.S. markets take a hit after a report on services activity shows signs of a recession.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks skidded at Tuesday's open after a report on nonmanufacturing activity pointed to a recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 1.4%. The Nasdaq composite index lost about 1.5%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was 1.7% lower.

The Institute of Supply Management's services activity index plunged in January to 41.9 from 54.4, a reading that signals contraction in the sector and hints at a recessionary economy.

Among stocks in the news at the open:

News Corp.: Media company News Corp. (NWS, Fortune 500) posted results late Monday about in line with analysts' estimates and said it is not considering a bid for Internet giant Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500).

Yahoo: Shares were downgraded to "hold" from "buy" late Monday by Soleil and early Tuesday by Bank of America.

Boston Scientific: Medical device maker Boston Scientific (BSX, Fortune 500) said it swung to a net loss of $458 million in the latest quarter, but earnings excluding items beat forecasts and the company raised first-quarter guidance.

Walt Disney: Media company Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) is due to report quarterly results after the market close.

Apple: Computer and electronics maker Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500)added new models of the iPhone and iPod touch Tuesday that double the memory capacity of earlier models. To top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.