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Dow sinks 110

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Stocks dropped today as investors took profits and digested some corporate earnings disappointments. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 110.31, or 1 percent, to close at 10,733.56. For the week, the Dow lost 79.19.

The Nasdaq composite index dropped 90.11, or 2 percent, at 4,094.45. For the week, the Nasdaq lost 152.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 15.28, or 1 percent, to 1,480.19. Decliners beat advancers by an 11-to-7 margin with 1,768 down, 1,089 up and 491 unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 970.15 million shares, down from 1.06 billion yesterday. The NYSE composite index slipped 4.81 to 655.38; the American Stock Exchange composite index dropped 12.14 to 927.64; and the Russell 2000 index fell 12.05 at 522.70.

The 30-year Treasury bond rose 9/32 point, or $2.81 per $1,000 in face value, as its yield fell 2 basis points to 5.79 percent, the lowest level since April 14. The 10-year note rose 1/32 point as its yield held at 5.99 percent. The two-year note's yield rose 1 basis point to 6.32 percent.

Stock investors apparently were taking a breather after yesterday's rally, sparked by upbeat remarks about the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and strong IBM earnings. "We have a typical summer Friday with profit-taking and low volume," said Arthur Hogan, analyst at Jeffries & Co. The tone of the market will still be positive in the days ahead because investors are confident the Fed is done raising interest rates, he said.

A few earnings disappointments added to today's selling, particularly in the technology sector. One was from Agilent Technologies, the computer products maker spinoff of Hewlett-Packard, which late yesterday said it expects fiscal third-quarter earnings to fall short of expectations. Shares of Agilent and Dow component H-P tumbled.