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Dow falls 129.75
Associated PressNEW YORK -- Stocks fell today as investors worried that rising interest rates have begun cutting into corporate earnings and will continue to pinch profits if the Federal Reserve boosts rates again at its August meeting.
A series of earnings warnings toppled a market already struggling to digest the Fed's decision yesterday to leave interest rates unchanged but warn about risks of inflation. Selling was modest, but broad-based. "The market has been fixated on the Fed, and it will continue to be," said Brittain Ellis Prigge, vice president at Balentine & Co. in Atlanta.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 129.75, or 1.2 percent to close at 10,398.04; the Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 12.43 at 1,442.39, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 63.11, or 1,6 percent, at 3,877.63.
Decliners beat advancers by a 10-to-9 margin, with 1,475 up, 1,456 down and 415 unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 1.1 billion shares vs. 1.06 billion yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 1.46 to 642.75; the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.72 to 939.34; and the Russell 2000 index fell 8.41 to 512.58.
The 30-year Treasury bond rose 1 3/32 points, or $10.94 per $1,000 face amount; its yield fell 7 basis points to 5.88 percent. The 10-year note rose 14/32 point while its yield fell 6 points to 6.04 percent.
On the NYSE, Eli Lilly soared nearly $15 to $102 after announcing that an independent board gave a favorable review to its drug Zovant, used to treat sepsis. The experimental drug, which still needs approval from the Food & Drug Administration, would be the first drug approved for the treatment of sepsis, a disease in which the body's systems fail due to infection. Scattered earnings disappointments dragged the market lower. Unisys plunged after warning that its second-quarter revenue and earnings will miss analysts' expectations.