NEW YORK >> An uninspiring jobs report and more warnings -- this time from Disney and National Semiconductor -- shattered investors' hopes that business was turning around and triggered a fierce selloff today. The Dow Jones industrials slid 193 points, their second consecutive triple-digit loss. Market closes lower
The Dow Jones industrials
tumbled 193 today, but
gained slightly for the weekBy Lisa Singhania
Associated PressThe steep downturn capped what has now been 11 weeks of heavy selling, during which the Dow has suffered seven triple-digit losing streaks.
Analysts said the declines reflect investors' unwillingness to make any bets amid so much uncertainty. The latest drops were particularly disheartening given that the market had appeared to be recovering from its worst days, with the Dow enjoying stellar surges, gaining 447 on Monday and 488 on July 24.
Declining issues led advancers nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was heavy. The Dow closed down 193.49, or 2.3 percent, at 8,313.13, after falling as much as 302 points. The blue chips fell 229.97 yesterday.
Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 20.42, or 2.3 percent, at 864.24, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 32.12, or 2.5 percent, to 1,247.88. The Russell 2000 index fell 12.76, or 3.3 percent, to 376.45.
The Dow ended the week up 0.6 percent, while the Nasdaq fell 1.1 percent and the S&P rose 1.3 percent. The last time all three indexes ended the week higher was May 17, 11 weeks ago.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was up 25/32 point today, while its yield fell to 4.29 percent from 4.39 percent late yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes were up 7/32 point and yielded 2 percent, down from 2.13 percent yesterday.
"It is unrealistic for investors to expect a big snap back, given the fact that we have had such a prolonged bad period for stock and in terms of the corporate profit recovery being slower than people had thought," said Brian Belski, fundamental market strategist for US Bancorp Piper Jaffray.
The pullback extended selling that began earlier this week following a string of negative economic reports, including a weaker-than-expected gross domestic product report for the second quarter, a drop in construction spending and a weak reading of business activity.
As a result, a Labor Department report today that the nation's unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in July did little to persuade investors to buy. The figure, which was in line with expectations, has held steady for about six months now. But some economists believe it could rise as high as 6.5 percent by the fall as the economy struggles to recover.
"The economic data has not been good. It's a perfectly reasonable catalyst to give back some of these gains," said Tobias Levkovich, senior institutional equity strategist at Salomon Smith Barney.
Stocks also had been moving lower as investors take profits from the market's late July rally. Between July 24 and July 29, the Dow advanced 1,009 points after tumbling for more than two months. Just over 600 of that remained by the end of trading Friday.
Walt Disney fell $1.52 to $15.31 after meeting expectations but reporting a 7 percent decline in net income for the third quarter. The loss reflected lower theme park attendance, soft advertising sales at its ABC network and movies that did not do as well as expected. Disney also was cautious about the fourth quarter.
John Hancock Financial Services lost $1.55 to $30.73 after reporting a 46 percent loss in second quarter income and reducing its earnings forecast.
Other financial stocks were weak, too. J.P. Morgan Chase fell $1.17 to $23.85, while Citigroup slipped $1.42 to $30.88.
Among technology stocks, National Semiconductor fell 25 cents to $16.88 after reducing its quarterly outlook citing soft demand. The selling spread across the chip sector. Intel tumbled 86 cents to $16.70, while Texas Instruments slid $1.14 to $19.97.
And AOL Time Warner dropped $1.02, or 9.1 percent, to $10.30 following reports that regulators were looking into its AOL division's relationship with business software company PurchasePro. AOL Time Warner had previously confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department are looking into its accounting practices. Still, analysts hesitated to say AOL Time Warner's problems were responsible for the broader market's losses.
"Controversy has been around on AOL for a while now and I do think people are getting used to it," said Rafael Tamargo, director of equity research at Wilmington Trust.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.9 percent. In Europe, Germany's DAX index slipped 2.1 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.8 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.1 percent.