NEW YORK -- Stocks ended lower today after an attempted come-back in battered Internet stocks failed, and blue-chip stocks came under selling pressure from a disappointing earnings report by IBM Corp. Dow drops 143
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 143.41 points, or 1.55 percent, at 9,120.67. The blue-chip index fell as much as 175 points this morning before trimming its losses.
Broader stock indexes ended lower after an attempted come-back in Internet shares fizzled in the final 90 minutes. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 9.97 to 1,225.19, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 5.84 to 2,338.88.
Decliners led advancers by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,220 up, 1,815 down and 492 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 777.79 million shares vs. 866.24 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 4.28 to 583.75, the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 0.30 to 704.69; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1.61 to 422.44.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up 11/16 point, or $6.871/2 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.09 percent from 5.13 percent late yesterday.
Internet stocks fell sharply in early trading extending sharp losses all week. They rebounded around midday but retreated a second time in the afternoon.
"I don't think we're going to stabilize for some time," said Tom Rhinelander, an Internet analyst at Forrester Research. "We still have a huge amount of speculation that's driven this run-up."