Markets slide Tuesday

US stock indexes shifted slightly lower in New York Tuesday after the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales dropped in December. Sales remain elevated from a year earlier, but fell 1 percent November to December, NAR said. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gave up 22.89 points, 0.17 percent, to 13,626.81. The Nasdaq composite index lost 12.45 points or 0.38 percent, to slip to 3,122.81. The Standard and Poor's 500 dropped 3.40 points or 0.23 percent to 1,482.58. The 10-year treasury note yielded 1.857 percent. Against the dollar, the euro was $1.3282 from Friday's $1.3313. The dollar dropped against the yen, hitting 88.59 yen from 89.62 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.35 percent, 37.81 points, to 10,709.93.