国际英语新闻：U.S. stocks drop on Japan disaster and high oil prices

NEW YORK, March 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday on high oil prices and possible earning lost from airline companies because of Japan disaster.

With no economic news released on Tuesday, investors paid attention to the company front. Delta Air Lines Inc., the second largest U.S. airline, said Tuesday its 2011 revenue will be cut by 250 million U.S. dollars to 400 million dollars due to the crisis in Japan.

In the previous session, Tiffany cut its first-quarter earnings forecast as it suffered some store closings in Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami.

Meanwhile, oil prices was around 105 dollars per barrel on Tuesday. Concerns that high oil prices would hurt U.S. economic recovery were still hovering around investors' mind.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.9 points, or 0.15 percent, to 12,018.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 4.61 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,293.77. The Nasdaq declined 8.22 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,683.87.