U.S. stocks tumble amid mixed earnings, falling oil

U.S. stocks traded sharply lower around midday Monday, as oil prices extended losses amid mixed earnings reports.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 252.98 points, or 1.54 percent, to 16,196.20. The S&P 500 dipped 27.89 points, or 1.44 percent, to 1,911.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index moved down 64.76 points, or 1.40 percent, to 4,555.60.

Oil prices continued to plunge around midday on Tuesday, with both the U.S. oil and Brent crude diving over 3 percent, as hopes for a deal between OPEC and Russia on output cuts faded.

With no major economic data due out Tuesday, quarterly results from big companies were in focus.

Alphabet (Class A), Google's parent company, jumped more than 4 percent around midday Tuesday, after the company delivered quarterly results above market estimates.

After Monday's closing bell, the tech giant announced its adjusted earnings were 8.67 U.S. dollars per share for the fourth quarter of 2015, on revenues of 21.3 billion dollars.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp decreased over 2 percent around midday after the U.S. energy company reported a 58-percent drop in quarterly earnings.

Pfizer Inc. fell about 1 percent around midday Tuesday after the drug maker posted quarterly results slightly above expectations but guidance for 2016 shy of forecast.

Latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2015 are expected to decrease 4.4 percent year on year, while the revenue is forecast to decline 3.3 percent.

On Monday, U.S. stocks pared early losses to end mixed as investors assessed a batch of generally negative economic reports. Endit