1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks retreat from records on soft auto sales

U.S. stocks pulled back Tuesday from record run, as U.S. vehicle sales in February came in lackluster.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85.26 points, or 0.47 percent, to 18,203.37. The S&P 500 lost 9.61 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,107.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 28.20 points, or 0.56 percent, to 4,979.90.

In the absence of major economic reports Tuesday, investors shifted their focus to a batch of auto sales which were weaker than expected. Cold and harsh weather in February was cited as an important reason for less demand.

General Motors said its U.S. February sales climbed 4 percent to 231,378, slightly below market expectations of 233,707. Ford's sales fell 2 percent to 180,383, missing consensus of 194,872. Fiat Chrysler added 6 percent to 163,586, also narrowly below estimates. Nissan's sales were up 3 percent to 118,436, compared with estimates of 121,183.

Dampening investor sentiment, overseas markets witnessed a broad-based decline, with Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tumbling 2.20 percent to finish at 3,263.05 points.

In other corporate news, Best Buy announced financial results Tuesday for the fourth quarter and the year ended Jan. 31, 2015. The company earned an adjusted 1.48 U.S. dollars per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates by 13 cents. Best Buy's shares added 1.42 percent to 39.18 dollars apiece.

Shares of AutoZone rose 0.36 percent to 651.90 dollars apiece after the company reported net sales of 2.1 billion dollars for its second quarter ended Feb. 14, 2015, an increase of 7.7 percent from the second quarter of fiscal 2014.

U.S. stocks kicked off the month with a surge Monday, with the Nasdaq closing above the 5,000 level for the first time since March 2000, while both the Dow and the S&P 500 refreshing their record highs. Endite