2014.03.1205:51:52UTC+00Wall Street plunges on choppy session

The US shares plummeted on Tuesday, with selling pick-up late in the trading session, as investors milked some of the latest market profits.

But the S&P 500 ended less than 1% away from its record high hit last week. Indexes swerved between gains and losses in the 1st half of the session. Lack of key corporate earnings or market-affecting figures made trading directionless. But it finished near the day's record low.

American Eagle and Urban Outfitters shares dropped sharply following a disappointing expectations. The Dow Jones industrial average decreased 67.43 points or 0.41%, to 16,351.25. The S&P 500 erased 9.54 points or 0.51%, to 1,867.63. Nasdaq Composite dipped 27.26 points or 0.63%, to 4,307.19.

Federal prosecutors in New York are evaluating whether General Motors is criminally liable for failure to properly disclose problems in some vehicles which were connected to 13 deaths and resulted to a recall last month, said the source familiar with the investigation. GM shares dived 5.1% to $35.18. 

Plug Power shares sank 41.5% to $6.03 following Citron Research said the fair value of the stock was 50 cents. Shares of other fuel cell makers plunged. Fuel Cell Energy went down 16.5% to $3.28. Ballard Power Systems slid 25.9% to $5.10. Hydrogenics Corp. slipped 14.7%. Shares in the sector had been on a tear, as Plug Power went up 940 percent since the end of October last year.

Urban Outfitters slumped 4.3% to $35.91 after a lower than anticipated quarterly sales and said it was very guarded on its current quarter.

American Eagle Outfitters tumbled 7.8% to $13.10 after it predicted profits for the present quarter that were short of postulations. The S&P retail index receded 0.66%. Men's Wearhouse said it would attain rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers for around $1.8 billion, concluding a five-month saga that began with Jos. A. Bank offering to purchase its bigger menswear rival. Men's Wearhouse shares increased 4.7% to $57.14 and Jos. A. Bank profited 3.9% to $64.22.

Boyd Gaming Corp. leaped 16.5% to $13.75 per day following hedge fund Elliott International revealed a 4.99% stake in the gaming firm. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold fell 2.1%, bringing the decrease in the last four sessions to 9.4%. Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange touched their lowest point since July 2010 under pressure from escalating inventories of the metal and slow demand.

Myriad Genetics Inc. missed 8.3% to $34.60. The diagnostics firm said a US court rejected a motion that would have halted rival Ambry Genetics Corp. from selling the same version of Myriad's cancer test.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. slacked 64.8% to $17.96 after its top experimental drug to treat chronic kidney disease reached the main objective of developing kidney function in a mid-stage study. Around 6.9 billion shares listed in US exchanges, based on the recent available data from BATS Global Markets, were somewhat above the 6.8 billion daily average so far this month.

Decliners surpassed advancers by about 2 to 1 on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq more than 8 issues toppled for every 3 that gained.