Wall Street falls on strong dollar, consumer fears

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell broadly on Thursday as a stronger dollar weighed on commodity-linked shares and a guarded outlook from Wal-Mart Stores Inc led to worries about consumer spending.

The greenback's rise helped push oil futures, which are denominated in dollars, down by 3 percent and caused energy shares to fall. The S&P integrated oil and gas index fell 1.5 percent.

Shares of Hess Corp were down 2.5 percent to $55.95 and Occidental Petroleum Corp slipped 1.6 percent to $81.81.

"As the S&P 500 has gone above 1,100, it has had a hard time holding on to gains," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Shelton, Connecticut.

"In order to get to the next level up, it does need a strong catalyst, and most of the time the stronger dollar has been a negative for the market."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 91.98 points, or 0.89 percent, to 10,199.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 10.93 points, or 0.99 percent, to 1,087.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 16.13 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,150.77.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, reported a higher quarterly profit and its shares rose 0.5 percent to $53.24, but it forecast earnings for the key holiday quarter that could miss Wall Street's consensus estimate.

Concern about consumer spending weighed on the S&P retail index, which fell 0.8 percent.