NEW YORK (TheStreet) – Stocks fell sharply early in Tuesday’s trading session as recovery concerns weighed down markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 101.7 points, or 1%, to 10,288.4 Tuesday morning. The S&P 500 was down by 9.58 points, or 0.9%, to 1093.67 and the Nasdaq was off by 18.54 points, or 0.9% to 2171.07.
President Obama is expected to outline his jobs plan in a speech at 11:25 a.m. EST at the Brookings Institution in Washington. The speech comes four days after the Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls report showed much fewer jobs lost in November than economists had expected. But stocks finished Monday’s session little changed, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that interest rates would remain low as long as lingering headwinds threatened a sustainable recovery.

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Bernanke’s speech brought the U.S. dollar down from recent highs. The greenback showed some strength against foreign currencies early Tuesday as the dollar index rose 0.3%.

Gold prices continued on their downward course Tuesday morning. The most actively traded February contract was down by $18 to $1,146 an ounce.

Oil was also trading lower, with the January crude contract down by 90 cents at $73.03 a barrel. Analysts say investors are waiting for a demand turnaround to push prices to the next level.

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 and was down by 1.7% and the DAX in Frankfurt was lower by 1.9%.

Banking analyst Meredith Whitney brought consumer weakness back to the forefront during a morning appearance on CNBC, as she said consumers’ inability to access credit would trip up the recovery.

In Tuesday’s economic news, weekly chain store sales fell 1.3%, from 0.1%, previously although the Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index, which reflects department stores same-store sales, rose 1.2% in the last month. Consumer credit fell for the ninth consecutive month in October, according to Monday’s report. The decline of $3.51 billion, however, was much less than the decrease of $9.3 billion expected by economists.

Wall Street will be watching Bank of America(BAC Quote), whose board members are likely to discuss chief executive candidates during Tuesday’s meeting.

Elsewhere in financials, the market will continue to eye Citigroup(C Quote) and Wells Fargo(WFC Quote), looking for signs that they will follow Bank of America’s lead and exit TARP.

Kroger(KR Quote) disappointed market expectations with its third-quarter results and reduced year-end earnings expectations. Its stock was down by 12.6%.

News thatFedEx(FDX Quote) saw improved shipping volumes suggested that business conditions might be improving. The company raised guianced for its just-ended second quarter and shares were last up by 2.7%.

Shares of McDonald’s(MCD Quote), meanwhile, were down by 2.9% as the company reported weak domestic sales .

– Written by Melinda Peer in New York.

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