NEW YORK (TheStreet) – The Dow suffered a triple-digit loss by the closing bell Tuesday, as lingering concerns about the pace of economic recovery, both at home and abroad, weighed on stocks all day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower by 104 points, or 1%, to 10,286. The S&P 500 fell off by 11 points, or 1%, to 1092 and the Nasdaq slid 17 points, or 0.8% to 2173.
Global debt concerns curbed investors’ appetites for risk after Moody’s Investors Services docked its ratings on companies controlled by the Dubai government and Fitch Ratings lowered its credit rating on Greece. The Athens Stock Exchange was down by roughly 6% after Moody’s delivered the one-step cut to BBB+, citing concerns about the country’s ability to meet debt obligations.

After referencing lingering thoughts about potential Federal Reserve policy tightening in the near term, Chip Hanlon, founder and president of Delta Global Advisors, also added that the fears about foreign debt issues is valid.

“When you start to get worries about sovereign debt and you have the makings for a powerful selloff, we’ll see if it gets worse from here, but it could,” Hanlon said.

Additionally pressuring international markets and heightening global recovery concerns was an unexpected slump in Germany’s industrial production. The country’s industrial output dropped 1.8% in October, marking the first decline in three months. Economists had been anticipating an increase of 1%.

“The world should question the return-to-growth thesis,” Hanlon continued, speaking of the global economic recovery challenges. “We’re not doing anything to fix structural economic challenges. We’re just putting band-aids on this. Makes sense the market would worry about this at some time. If now is the time, so be it.”

He added, “if I was a short term trader, I’d worry that this could gain steam. It should with these sorts of worries.”

Overseas, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.2%, and Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.3% despite the government’s unveiling of its $81 billion stimulus plan. The FTSE in London slid 1.7%, as was the DAX in Frankfurt.
President Barack Obama unveiled a job growth plan in a speech to the Brookings Institute, but it had little impact on the market. The proposals for more spending on infrastructure, energy efficiency incentives and tax credits for actively hiring small businesses didn’t veer from expectations. A portion of leftover funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program will go toward to the cost of the plan — although a final price tag wasn’t specified.

Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, believes infrastructure investments hold the greatest promise for real job growth.

“The constellation of tax cuts aimed at small businesses seems to be a roundabout way of addressing the very real problem of credit availability for small and medium-sized firms,” Mishel said. “I would prefer a new loan program that gives small businesses access to the credit they need to meet their specific needs, rather than less-targeted tax breaks.”

The U.S. dollar continued to show strength against foreign currencies Tuesday afternoon, as the dollar index rose 0.7%. Gold prices continued on their downward course with the most actively traded February contract settling at $1,143.40 an ounce, down by $20.60.
Recovery-related worries pressured oil prices. The January crude contract settled at $72.62 a barrel after losing $1.31.

Unemployment and tight credit conditions remain significant hurdles to economic recovery, as emphasized by banking analyst Meredith Whitney in a morning appearance on CNBC. The analyst expressed bearishness toward the financial sector, which has been closely watched by the market for signs of TARP payment plans.
On the corporate news front, shares of McDonald’s(MCD Quote) were down more than 2% after the the Dow component reported weak domestic sales for November.

Another blue chip that was weighing on investor sentiment was 3M(MMM Quote), which issued a cautious outlook for 2010. The stock slipped over 1% in recent trades.

Also, Kroger(KR Quote) was a big mover after the supermarket operator disappointed Wall Street with its third-quarter results and reduced year-end earnings expectations. Its stock was down by 12.5%.

FedEx(FDX Quote), however, was a bright spot as the Memphis-based package delivery company said it’s seeing improved shipping volumes. The company raised guidance for its just-ended second quarter and shares were last up by 2.7%.

– Written by Melinda Peer and Sung Moss in New York.

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