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NEW YORK -- Wall Street's pessimistic mood intensified today with investors sending stocks sharply lower amid increasing concerns about earnings and the slowdown in the U.S. economy. Dow off 167;
Nasdaq falls 151.55Associated Press
The high-tech focused Nasdaq composite index bore the brunt of a new string of analysts' downgrades in the technology sector and tumbled 151.55, or 5 percent, to finish at 2,875.64. This was Nasdaq's lowest close since Oct. 29 1999, when it finished at 2,875.22.
Other market indexes also recorded sharp declines. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 167.22, or 1.6 percent, to 10,462.65, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was off 25.10, or 1.8 percent, at 1,342.62.
Decliners led advancers in a 2-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange with 1,849 down, 977 down and 464 unchanged. NYSE volume was 952.7 million, well below Friday's 1.06 billion. The NYSE composite slipped 9.40 to 634.34; the American Stock Exchange composite index dropped 10.72 to 874.50 ; and the Russell 2000 index fell 12.37 to 470.24.
The 30-year Treasury bond's price was up 10/31 point, or $3.13 per $1,000 in face value; its yield fell to 5.75 percent from 5.77 percent late Friday.
With the presidential election still unresolved and a spate of analyst downgrades of tech companies, already downtrodden investors saw little reason to buy. Doubting they'd see the typical post-election rally, investors stuck to a strategy of selling stocks whose earnings forecasts are bleak, particularly high-techs.