Wall Street Falls 151 Points Amid Record Oil Price

May 20, 2008 10:30 a.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - Stocks plummeted in early trading Tuesday as investors filtered news of higher wholesale prices, increased crude oil prices and falling corporate profits. The Dow shed 103 points to 12,924 at 9:40 Eastern.

Before the bell, crude oil reached $129.31 a barrel prior to falling back to $128 a barrel for an early-morning $0.95 gain.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department announced the core producer price index, which omits volatile energy and food, inched up 0.4 percent in April, marking a 3 percent annual jump unseen since 1991.

Home Depot profit fell 66 percent, the latest sign of a slowing economy being felt by retailers. Likewise retailer Target announced a 7.5 percent fall in quarterly profits.

With that backdrop, the Standard and Poor's 500 index was off 6 points to 1,419.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 12 points to 2,503.

As the U.S. dollar fell against the euro and yen, investors sought out commodities.

Crude oil added $1.35 to $128.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold prices were up $2.30 to $908.10 an ounce.