U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest two-day tumble since April, as Best Buy Co. posted disappointing sales and commodity producers sank on concern the economic recovery is stalling.

Best Buy, the world’s biggest electronics retailer, plunged 7.3 percent after profit slumped 15 percent. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. sank at least 4.1 percent to lead commodity shares lower as oil erased a 3 percent gain and copper declined. AT&T Inc. lost 1.7 percent after the largest U.S. phone company was downgraded at Barclays Plc. Treasuries rose for a fourth day and the dollar weakened.

The S&P 500, which surged 40 percent from a 12-year low in March through last week, retreated 1.3 percent to 911.97 at 4:03 p.m. New York time. The index slid 2.4 percent yesterday, the most since May 13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 107.46 points, or 1.3 percent, to 8,504.67.

Stocks rose in early trading as a better-than-estimated report on housing starts spurred a rally in homebuilders and commodity shares climbed with metal and oil prices. Benchmark indexes and commodities turned lower after Reuters reported that New York University economist Nouriel Roubini, who predicted the financial crisis, told a conference the economy won’t recover until the end of the year and growth will remain weak.

(Bloomberg.com)