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Dow off 43.84
Associated PressNEW YORK - Stock prices tumbled today as disappointed investors vented their wrath on a slew of technology companies whose second-quarter financial results fell short of expectations.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 43.84 at 10,696.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 11.78 at 1,481.96 and the Nasdaq composite index was off 121.54 at 4,055.63.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,122 up, 1,674 down and 542 unchanged. Volume came to 909.24 million shares, down from yesterday's pace of 909.55 million.
The NYSE composite index fell 1.26 to 656.95, the American Stock Exchange composite index lost 6.59 to 937.16 and the Russell 2000 index was down 8.42 at 527.86.
The 30-year Treasury bond fell 1/2 to 104 22/32, while its yield rose to at 5.92 percent.
The primary catalyst for the selloff was disappointing quarterly results from two technology bellwethers - Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft fell $5.37-1/2 to $73.12-1/2after the software giant reported yesterday that second- quarter sales were stagnant, about equal to the same period a year ago. Earnings were up for the quarter, but the gain was attributed to investment income rather than profits from sales. Apple, which beat forecasts by a penny, saw its stock fall $4.56 at $52.69.
Meanwhile, IBM reported after the close that its second-quarter net income dropped slightly from the year-ago period, though earnings from continuing operations rose 14 percent.
The results beat analysts' expectations.