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NEW YORK — Stocks slid Tuesday, halting a two-day advance, after companies from FedEx Corp. to Danaher Corp. forecast earnings that disappointed investors as the deepening recession crimps sales.

FedEx tumbled 14 percent, its steepest loss in 21 years, after the second-biggest U.S. package-shipping company projected profit below analysts’ estimates amid a significantly weaker economy. Danaher, maker of Craftsman tools, slid 4.2 percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. dropped almost 7 percent as yields on three-month Treasuries turned negative for the first time, signaling increasing stress in credit markets.

"Investors have been schizophrenic here for a couple of months, and I don’t see any change in that," said Henry Herrmann, chief executive of Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. in Overland Park, Kan., which manages about $50 billion. "We still have very thin trading, and there’s a lot of nervousness."

The S&P 500 lost 2.3 percent to 888.67. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 242.85 points, or 2.7 percent, to 8,691.33 and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 1.6 percent to 1,547.34.

FedEx fell $10.78 to $63.65 after saying annual profit may be as much as one-third lower than analysts expected. Larger rival United Parcel Service Inc. fell $4.11 to $54.51, the most since Oct. 22.

Union Pacific Corp. slid 7.4 percent to $46.90 after Merrill Lynch & Co. cut the railroad operator’s shares to neutral from buy.

Con-way Inc. slid 14 percent to $22.19, the lowest level in more than seven years.

Danaher Corp. fell 4.2 percent to $49.78. The company said fourth-quarter profit will be lower than previously forecast. Danaher will close 13 factories and cut 1,700 jobs because of the deteriorating economy.

"You’re going to have to get used to this for the next three months; you’re going to see lowering of guidance," said Robert Lutts, president and chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management, which oversees $400 million in Boston cheap car insurance. "This is the real economy."

Kroger Co. fell 6.7 percent to $25.47. Safeway Inc. lost 6.7 percent to $22.04.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell 3 percent to $55.81.

General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker whose shares surged 21 percent Monday, fell 4.7 percent to $4.70. Ford Motor Co. declined 4.4 percent to $3.23.

"The thing that has shaken people more than anything else is the implosion of these major household names," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, which manages $30 billion. "When the auto industry looked like it was on the verge of disappearance the market hit a low. That really shakes people."

JPMorgan fell 6.9 percent to $33.96, while Wells Fargo Co. slid 6.6 percent to $30.50.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc., the Baltimore-based money manager, slid 6.9 percent to $34.13, the first decline in six trading sessions.

SunTrust Banks Inc., Georgia’s largest lender, declined 11 percent to $30.04, while Bank of New York Mellon Corp. slid 10 percent to $27.63.

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