NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Major U.S. stock indexes fell Tuesday after the government said producer prices gained faster than expected in July.

Analysts expected July wholesale inflation to rise 0.5 percent. Instead, it rose 1.2 percent, the Department of Labor reported.

In late-morning trading Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 119.52 points or 1.04 percent, to 11,359.87. The Nasdaq was down 21.32 points, or 0.88 percent, at 2,395.66 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 11.11 at 1,267.49, off 0.87 percent.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 1/32 to yield 3.816 percent.

Against the euro the dollar was at $1.4676 from Monday's $1.4701. The dollar against the yen was at 110.01, down slightly from Monday's 110.511.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average fell 300.40 points to 12,865.05, down 2.28 percent.

Trouble with U.S. mortgage giants spreads

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Fears over two U.S. mortgage giants collapsing are rippling through financial systems and putting a strain on the system, analysts said.

A report in Barron's suggesting the government would move on re-capitalizing the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and the Federal National Mortgage Association, sent shares of the two government-sponsored enterprises down 25 percent and 22 percent, respectively, on Monday, the Financial Times reported.

A Treasury Department spokesman called the Barron's report "speculative," the Times reported.

But, the drop pressured share values of financial concerns that do business with Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM), helping push the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 1.5 percent Monday.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's debt also dropped in price, which, in turn, threatens interest rates on mortgage loans, the Times said.

"There is still stress in the system," George Goncalves at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said.

That stress was also reflected in the price of insurance against default for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt, which hit record levels in the credit default swaps market, the Times reported.

Fears have also spread to money markets.

"A year's worth of tightening credit is only now being felt," said Tobias Levkovich, chief US equity strategist at Citigroup.

Summer Games slow retail sales

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Retail sales in the United States rose slightly in the week ending Aug. 16, the International Council of Shopping Centers-USB reported Tuesday.

Sales were up 0.1 percent, following a week in which retail sales fell 1.1 percent, the report said.

Sales rose both weeks in year-over-year figures, up 2.6 percent in the week ending Aug. 9 and up 2.4 percent from a year ago in the week ending Aug. 16, the smallest gain since July 12, the ICSC said.

The report said shopping had been displaced by sports. "Customer traffic slowed, possibly as the Beijing Summer Olympics got into full swing ... and diverted consumers' attention," the report said.

On the positive side for many retailers, the average price for a gallon of gasoline has fallen 37.4 cents in the past six weeks, the report noted.

SEC filing system goes to hyper-drive

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided it's time for a new interactive filing system that makes information a mouse-click away, analysts said.

In fact, the system, using extensible business reporting language, or XBRL, will allow investors to skim through financial reports in a fraction of the time it takes to do now, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

"We're replacing the family station wagon with a Ferrari," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.

Cox said the program, which allows users to quickly find data from several different companies and transfer them to a single spreadsheet, helps investors find "the information they need to make wise decisions."

Liv Watson, formerly an XBRL International board member, called the system "hyperlinks on steroids."

"It's like setting data free," Watson said.

The current proposal for compliance with the system includes a two-year schedule. The 500 largest public companies need to use the new system starting Dec. 15 with the information filed becoming public in early 2009, the Post reported. The next 1,200 companies would need to comply by Dec. 15, 2009, while the deadline for all publicly traded companies filing XBRL reports is the end of 2010.