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Dow falls 81
Associated PressNEW YORK -- Stocks fell broadly today after AT&T Corp. delivered a cautious profit outlook and investors took profits from a three-day rally in technology shares. Worries about rising interest rates hung over the market, keeping volume low and buyers scarce.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 80.66 to close at 10,731.12. The Nasdaq composite index fell 172.63 to 3,785.45, its first decline in four sessions, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 21.96 to 1,446.29. Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 9-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,691 down, 1,288 up and 427 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 1.02 billion shares vs. 943.85 million yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 4.82 to 645.75, the American Stock Exchange composite index dropped 10.46 to 925.72 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 13.58 to 505.35. The 30-year bond fell 12/32, or $3.75 per $1,000 face amount; its yield rose 3 basis points to 6.02 percent.
AT&T fell $7 to $42 after lowering its earnings forecasts for fiscal year 2000, saying the competitive long-distance market is cutting into consumer phone revenue. AT&T said it now expects to produce full-year operating profits of between $1.80 and $1.85 per share rather than the previous estimate of $1.89 to $1.94.
Microsoft Corp. gave up some of yesterday's $3.69 advance and was down $3.56 to $69.87.
Microsoft's decline came after Mary Meeker, an influential technology stock analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, said she believes Microsoft's stock is fairly valued in the 60s.