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NEW YORK -- Stocks fell sharply today as investors girded themselves for earnings reports amid persistent worries and fresh concerns about technology stocks. Dow off 44.03;
Nasdaq sinks 115Associated Press
Downgrades of two chip makers early in the day pulled technology issues lower, as the market awaited after-hours earnings reports from two of Wall Street's most high-profile companies: Yahoo! and Motorola. A warning by Lucent Technologies after the market closed that its earnings would be below expectations threatened to extend the decline.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 115.02 to 3,240.54. The Standard and Poor's 500 index was off 16.09 at 1,385.94.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 44.03 to 10,524.40.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 6 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,685 down, 1,137 up and 492 unchanged. Volume was 1.04 billion shares vs. yesterday's 718.1 million in the holiday session. The NYSE composite index fell 3.19 to 650.36, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.52 to 922.42 and the Russell 2000 index was down 7.90 at 481.63. The Treasury's 10-year note rose 9/32 to 99; its yield fell 4 basis points to 5.78 percent. The 30-year bond rose 12/32 to 106 2/32; its yield fell 3 basis points to 5.82 percent.
Xilinx and Altera fell sharply after analysts at Salomon Smith Barney and Lehman Brothers downgraded the chip makers, citing weak market conditions. Xilinx fell $16.69 to $62.44; Altera was off $11.06 at $29.81.
The selloff quickly spread to other high-tech issues. Intel fell $1.50 to $37.56. IBM dropped $3.19 to $114.75.