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U.S. stocks fell for a second day as concern about progress in Washington budget negotiations overshadowed a European agreement on Greece aid and a better- than-forecast report on durable goods.

Nine of 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) lost 3 percent after Autonomy Corp.’s former chief executive officer challenged the computer maker’s board to explain allegations that the software company falsified financial statements. Seagate Technology Plc (STX) slid 5.1 percent as CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said the magnitude of the personal- computer slowdown in emerging markets was worse than thought.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent to 1,398.94 in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) lost 89.24 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,878.13. More than 5.9 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, or 2.6 percent below the three-month average at this time of day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“The market remains fixated on what’s going on in Washington,” Frederic Dickson, who helps oversee about $32 billion as chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon, said in a telephone interview. “The lack of progress in resolving major fiscal cliff issues is topic A and trumping any kind of positive news whether it’s coming out of Europe or positive economic reports.” U.S. equities extended declines after Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid said “little progress” has been made in talks to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. “We only have a couple weeks to get something done so we have to get away from the happy talk” and do “specific things,” he told reporters.

The S&P 500 has slipped 2.1 percent since Nov. 6 as President Barack Obama’s re-election set up a showdown with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives over the budget. Congress returned from the Thanksgiving recess this week, seeking a budget deal to avoid $607 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts from kicking in next year. While Republicans favor raising federal tax revenue by limiting deductions, Democrats have pushed for higher rates on upper-income earners. The Congressional Budget Office has said a failure to avoid the fiscal cliff could lead to a recession and a jobless rate of about 9 percent, compared with the October rate of 7.9 percent.

In Europe, finance ministers cut the rates on loans made under the first bailout of Greece in May 2010. They also suspended interest payments for a decade on lending agreed under the country’s second bailout. The ministers outlined a plan for the Mediterranean nation to buy back its debt at distressed rates. They authorized Greece to receive a 34.4 billion-euro ($44.6 billion) loan installment in December.

Another report showed consumer confidence rose in November to the highest level in more than four years. Home prices climbed in the year ended in September by the most since July 2010.

The KLCI ended down 0.6% at 1598.17 Tuesday. Today’s Support and Resistance for spot month index futures is located around 1585 and 1600 respectively.