Wall Street retreats on corporate outlook, high oil prices

NEW YORK, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street retreated Tuesday on corporate earning outlook and high crude prices.

DuPont reported a better-than-expected earning but saying a U.S. slowdown will offset growth abroad while McDonald's said an important metric of its sales showed a decline for March.

On Tuesday the National Association of Realtors Investors reported that sales of existing homes fell 2 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.93 million units, while the median sales price dropped for a seventh straight month.

High oil prices raised investors' concerns about inflation. Light, sweet crude rose above 119 dollars a barrel, hitting a new record high.

The Dow Jones average fell 104.71, or 0.82 percent, to 12,720.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.22, or 0.88 percent, to 1,375.95, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 31.10, or 1.29 percent, to 2,376.94.