Only 3 components trade solidly in positive territory as Dow falls 250 points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average midday Tuesday was trading sharply lower, with only a trio of companies in the green as Wall Street investors awaited the Federal Reserve's policy update on Wednesday and an earnings later in the day from Apple Inc. In fact, only Apple's shares up 1%, those of Intel Corp. returning 1.7%, and shares of Microsoft Corp. advancing by 0.3%, were showing gains Tuesday morning. Most recently, the Dow was trading down 250 points, or 1%, at 23,908, with losses led by a decline in shares of McDonald's Corp. which was among the best performers among the Dow's 30 components in Monday trade after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of McDonald's were trading 2.6% lower on the day, after rising nearly 6% in Monday's action. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was off 0.5% at 2,635, while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index was trading off 0.1% at 7,059, with losses limited by gains in iPhone maker Apple, the largest publicly traded company in the world by market value.