NEW YORK — Stocks sank today, with investors cringing at reports showing that high fuel costs are hurting consumer confidence and corporate profits. Bond prices rose sharply as investors pulled money out of Wall Street.

The Conference Board said its June consumer confidence index came in at 50.4, far below economists' expectation of 56.5 and May's reading of 58.1. The news disappointed Wall Street, which was down before the report due to a warning from shipper UPS Inc. that high oil prices are dampening its profit expectations.

Energy prices show few signs of waning, leading to worries among investors that more expensive energy will prevent the economy from growing and aggravate inflation at the same time. Light, sweet crude rose 51 cents to $137.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Tuesday did bring some positive earnings news. Grocery chain Kroger Co. said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 15 percent thanks to gasoline and food sales offered at a discount.

But investors appeared wary about buying back into the stock market, particularly ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates that began Tuesday and will conclude Wednesday. The central bank will announce Wednesday afternoon its decision to change or hold the key federal funds rate steady at 2 percent. With the economy weak and price pressures rising, the central bank is in a tough spot — if rates are low, the economy has more chance to expand, but inflation can accelerate, too.

In mid-morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 94.04, or 0.79 percent, to 11,748.32, after closing nearly flat on Monday.

Broader stock indicators also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11.70, or 0.89 percent, to 1,306.30, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 26.97, or 1.13 percent, to 2,358.77.

Government bonds rose as investors unloaded stocks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, slid to 4.10 percent from 4.17 percent late Monday. The dollar fell against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

UPS fell $3.06, or 4.6 percent, to $63.22 after its profit warning.

Kroger rose $1.46, or 5.6 percent, to $27.46 after releasing its better-than-expected earnings.

In other worrisome economic data, the S&P/Case-Shiller index of U.S. home prices fell in April at fastest pace since 2000. For the first time, all 20 metropolitan areas measured by the index posted annual declines.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 11.32, or 1.57 percent, to 708.49.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume amounted to 210.9 million shares.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.61 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.45 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 1.56 percent.