The Dow Jones industrial average fell 36.15 to 5,930.62, its worst one-day point loss since Sept. 5. The drop came after a three-day assault on the 6,000 mark. On Monday and yesterday the blue-chip average made its first forays past 6,000, but quickly slipped back.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 5-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 878 up, 1,473 down and 898 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 405.96 million shares, vs. 434.66 million yesterday. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 3.91 to 696.73, and the NYSE's composite index fell 2.16 to 371.35.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.17 to 1,237.98, and the American Stock Exchange index fell 1.91 to 580.10.
Bond prices fell, with the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond - a key determinant of corporate and consumer borrowing costs - rising to 6.83 percent, up from late yesterday's 6.80 percent.
Analysts attributed the stock selling to another weak day in the bond market and continuing worries about what the impending blizzard of third-quarter earnings reports will show.
The technology-dominated Nasdaq market's drop was cushioned by yesterday's report of a 9 percent rise in computer chip orders. The Semiconductor Industry Association's book-to-bill ratio rose to its highest level since December.