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Dow tumbles 258
Associated PressNEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks tumbled today amid worries about rising interest rates, while a rash of attacks on leading Web sites deflated the high-flying technology sector. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 258.44, or 2.36 percent, to close at 10,699.16.
Broader stock indicators also sank. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 30.01, or 2.08 percent, to 1,411.71, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 64.39, or 1.45 percent, to 4,363.15.
Decliners beat advancers by a nearly 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,969 down, 1,020 up and 501 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 1.045 billion shares vs. 1.049 billion yesterday.The NYSE composite index fell 12.06 to to 616.98; the American Stock Exchange composite slipped 5.06 to 880.28; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1.49 to 536.00.
The benchmark 30-year bond fell 1 1/32 points, or $10.31 per $1,000 face amount pushing its yield up to 6.30 percent from 6.23 percent yesterday.
The Dow's losses were broad-based, with American Express, Citigroup and Home Depot all dropping on concerns that the Federal Reserve will continue raising interest rates this year, potentially threatening corporate profits.
"Investors in these stocks are anticipating that the Fed will eventually be successful in forcing a slowdown in the economy," said Ned Riley, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston. The Fed has raised short-term interest rates four times since June 1999 in an effort to slow the economy enough to keep inflation under control.