Anxiety increased after the Commerce Department

reported that sales of new homes

fell 6.6 percent last month

to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 units,

more than triple

what had been expected . . .

Traders also weighed a mixed batch of

second-quarter earnings reports

from major names like Ford Motor Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp. . . .

— weighed heavily on the market.