Stocks fall: Nasdaq under 5K, Dow sheds 105

Stocks turned lower in afternoon trading Tuesday as investors digested economic reports showing an uptick in inflation and a big jump in new-home sales in February.

The Nasdaq composite ducked back below 5000, ending 0.3% lower and shedding 16 points to settle at 4994.73.

Losing 0.6% -- 104 points -- was the Dow Jones industrial average, which ended at 18,011.14. The S&P 500 shed 0.6% to finish the day at 2091.50.

The markets' drop came after the major indexes drifted in and out of positive territory for most of the morning.

Before the bell, the Labor Department reported that consumer prices were up 0.2%, the first increase in four months and in line with the rise expected by economists. Core prices, excluding food and energy, were up 0.2%.

In a second report, the government said new-home sales soared 7.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 539,000. That comes on top of an upward revision to January's sales rate to 500,000 from a 481,000 annual rate.

The last time new home sales had back-to-back months with rates at or topping 500,000 was in 2008, according to Census Bureau data from Haver Analytics.

The Federal Reserve is closely is monitoring inflation for signs that it's picking up from a feeble pace fueled largely by low gasoline prices, stagnant wages and a strong dollar that's making imports cheap.

The Fed last week signaled that it could raise its benchmark interest rate within months on falling unemployment, but it also indicated it's in no rush to act until it's confident that inflation will edge up toward its 2% annual target over the medium-term.

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European stocks ended mostly higher Tuesday as Germany's DAX index jumped 0.9% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.7%. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.3%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.1%.

Stocks ended lower Monday as investors paused after last week's strong gains that sent major indexes toward record territory. The Dow fell 12 points to 18,116 and the S&P 500 dropped 4 to 2104. The Nasdaq slipped 15 to 5011.

Contributing: USA TODAY's Paul Davidson, Doug Carroll