WEED:CC - Stocks Take Pasting Tuesday

U.S. stocks dropped Tuesday as higher rates continue to pressure market sentiment, and the latest batch of retail earnings raised concern about the state of the consumer.

The Dow Jones Industrials cratered 496.95 points, or 1.5%, to break for lunch Tuesday at 33,329.74.

The S&P 500 retreated 61.64 points, or 1.5%, to 4,017.45.

The NASDAQ Composite moved backward 222.27, or 1.9%, to 11,565.

Home Depot shares fell 4.6% after the home improvement retailer posted weaker-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter. The company also issued a muted outlook.

The Dow fell 0.1% last week, marking its third straight weekly decline. The S&P 500 slid for a second consecutive week, losing 0.3%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite bucked the trend, rising 0.6%.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday is scheduled to release the minutes from its meeting of Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The central bank hiked rates by 25 basis points after that meeting.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury withered, lifting yields to 3.93% from Friday's 3.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices settled seven cents to $76.27 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices fell $5.90 to $1,844.00 U.S. an ounce.