Stocks Slide, Oil Up As Syria Tensions Escalate

Mounting tensions with Syria sent the stock market sharply lower and pushed the price of crude oil to an 18-month high.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 170 points, or 1.1 percent, to 14,776 Tuesday, the lowest close in two months.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 26 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,630. The Nasdaq composite fell 79 points, or 2.2 percent, to 3,578.

Airline stocks fell sharply as the spike in crude oil brought the threat of higher fuel costs.

Crude oil jumped $3.09, or 2.9 percent, to $109.01 a barrel, the highest since February 2012.

Gold and bond prices rose.

Six stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was about average, 3.2 billion shares.

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