NEW YORK – Stock indexes drifted between gains and losses Tuesday after the government lowered its estimate of economic growth in the third quarter. Higher borrowing costs for Spain also renewed worries about Europe’s debt crisis.
Hewlett-Packard Co. sank 2.8 percent, dragging down the Dow Jones industrial average. H-P lowered its earnings forecast for the 2012 fiscal year after the market closed Monday. The tech giant said it was being “cautious,” citing Europe’s debt crisis and weak consumer spending.
The Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the July-September period, down from its initial estimate of 2.5 percent. Economists had expected the figure to remain unchanged.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 30 points, or 0.3 percent, at 11,516 as of 2 p.m. Eastern. The Dow had been down as many as 113 points shortly before noon. After H-P, aluminum maker Bank of America Corp. had the biggest fall among the 30 stocks in the index, 2 percent.
The Standard Poor’s 500 index was down 2 points at 1,191. Both the Dow and SP briefly turned slightly higher in early afternoon trading.
The SP has lost 5.2 percent over the past week on worries that Spain
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