Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Dow falls 251
Associated PressNEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled as much as 331 points today as interest-rate worries weighed on the market and investors punished companies that warned of slowing earnings growth.
Selling pressure eased in the final hour of Wall Street's regular session, allowing market averages to pare their losses. Nonetheless, analysts said the broad-based selloff was a stark reminder that the pessimism that dominated the market just a few weeks ago still hangs over Wall Street.
"There's been a significant change in investors' perceptions," said Rao Chalasani, chief investment strategist at First Union Securities in Chicago. "Until early March, bad news was ignored. Now, bad news is perceived as bad news and even good news is treated with skepticism."
The Dow average fell 250.99, or by 2.3 percent, to close at 10,480.13, having edged back from a drop to just above 10,400 in late trading. The Nasdaq composite index was more resilient, cutting a late loss of 192.66 points to 78.14, closing at 3,707.31, a drop of 2.1 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 31.19 to 1,415.10. Decliners beat advancers by a 5-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,139 down, 823 up and 445 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 990.34 million shares vs. 1.01 billion yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 13.84 to 631.91; the American Stock Exchange index fell 11.32 to 914.40; and the Russell 2000 index lost 9.79 to 495.56. The 30-year Treasury bond yield rose to a seven-week high of 6.12 percent from 6.01 yesterday; its price fell 1 14/32 points, or $14.37 per $1,000 face amount.