NEW YORK — Disappointing earnings from electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. sent stocks falling yesterday as investors feared lackluster consumer spending heading into the holiday season that would weaken the overall economy.

Best Buy's profits, which rose 25 percent from a year ago, missed Wall Street's forecasts, and the company said the current quarter also would miss targets, heightening investors' concerns that high gasoline and heating oil prices will hurt consumers.

A drop in crude oil didn't help the stock market. A barrel of light crude closed at $63.11, down 23 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The retail news also overshadowed a slightly better-than-expected report on wholesale inflation. The Labor Department's Producer Price Index rose by 0.6 percent in August, less than the 0.7 percent expected. With costly fuel prices removed, the "core" PPI was flat for the month.

The Commerce Department reported that the nation's trade deficit fell to $57.9 billion in July from $59.5 billion in June.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by nearly 5 to 2 on the Big Board, where consolidated volume came to 2.19 billion shares, compared to 1.96 billion on Monday.

The Russell 2000 index fell 7.69, or 1.13 percent, to 673.13.

Bonds recovered. The dollar was narrowly mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.