– National
:
A negative sales outlook from homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. Tuesday cast doubt on the health of the housing market and sent stocks falling after four sessions of gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 46.51, or 0.4 percent, to 10,539.72. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 4.22, or 0.4 percent, to 1,218.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 6.17, or 0.3 percent, to 2,172.07.
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Read the full Associated Press story
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– Local
:
Shares of local homebuilders tumbled after Toll Brothers Inc. cut its fiscal 2006 delivery forecast and said its earnings growth will slow as demand fades. KB Home slipped 5.5 percent to $63.74 and Ryland Group Inc. dipped 4.9 percent to $67.64.
Cheesecake Factory Inc. fell 2.5 percent to $35.24 after the Calabasas Hills-based causal restaurant operator’s stock rating as downgraded to “neutral” from “overweight” by JPMorgan.
Herbalife Ltd. rose 3.2 percent to $30.96 after the seller of weight-loss and nutritional supplements boosted its 2006 full-year forecast to $1.80 to $1.85 a share as its sales growth increased.
