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Nasdaq plummets 200
The Dow drops 168.97 on interest rate fears
Associated PressNEW YORK -- Stocks fell sharply today, pushing the Nasdaq composite index down 200 points, as investors fretted about interest rates and continued their flight from high-tech issues.
The Nasdaq fell 200.28, or 5.6 percent, to close at 3,384.73. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 168.97, or 1.6 percent, to close at 10,367.78. Broader stock indicators also sank. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 29.09, nearly 2.1 percent, to 1,383.05. Declining issues beat advancers by a 7-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,094 down, 886 up and 430 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 977.06 million shares vs. 898.33 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite lost 7.93 to to 628.36; the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 11.52 to 912.70 and the Russell 2000 index dropped 16.58 to 474.28.
The yield on the Treasury's 10-year note fell 9 basis points to 6.44 percent, the biggest drop since March 30. Its price rose 19/32, or $6.25 per $1,000 face amount, to 100 13/32. The 30-year bond yield dropped 5 basis points to 6.16 percent and its price rose 5/8 point to 1011/8. In the past month, the yield on the 10-year note has jumped 67 basis points and the 30-year yield has risen 50 basis points as investors became increasingly convinced the Fed will raise its target for overnight lending to 6.5 percent when it meets Tuesday.
Technology stocks bore the brunt of investors' distress today, with several industry leaders falling sharply. Cisco Systems Inc. fell. After the close of trading yesterday, the Internet equipment provider reported net income of $662 million, or 9 cents per share, beating Wall Street analysts' expectations by a penny. But shares of Cisco have been out of favor all week after a story in Barron's magazine said the stock is overvalued and acquisitions will prove increasingly difficult.
Intel tumbled after the company said it shipped nearly 1 million computer circuit boards that could contain a defect that destroys important files. IBM fell a day after CEO Louis Gerstner made his annual address to Wall Street. Gerstner said the company's financial model calls for high single-digit revenue growth, not the brisk double-digit expansion achieved in early 1999.