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NEW YORK -- Weary investors sold off stocks today on earnings warnings from two major banking companies, sending blue chip and technology stocks sharply lower. Dow falls 119
Associated Press
Wall Street again focused on its fears that the economy is slowing faster than it would like and that more companies will issue disappointing outlooks. There was no typical post-election rally because the market already had factored in a win by Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
"I guess we have to move on with the business of the economy and it continues to be disappointing," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst for Jefferies & Co. "It's a different sector every day."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 119.45 to 10,674.99 after falling as much as 178 points. The Nasdaq composite index slid 94.26 to 2,728.51 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index ended the day down 19.06 at 1,340.93.
Decliners led advancers 15 to 9 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,695 down, 1,183 up and 426 unchanged. Volume was 1.05 billion vs. 1.18 billion yesterday.
The NYSE composite index lost 7.72 to 645.58, the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 9.56 to 870.40 and the Russell 2000 index was down 8.09 at 461.82.
The Treasury's 10-year note rose 10/32 to a price of 104 1/32; its yield fell 4 basis points to 5.21. The 30-year bond rose 13/32 to 111 26/32; its yield fell 3 basis points to 5.44 percent.
After the close of the market today, Oracle, the world's second-largest computer-software maker, said net income for the second quarter rose 62 percent to $622.8 million from $384.5 million in the year-earlier period. Earnings per share rose to 11 cents from 6 cents, beating forecasts by a penny.
Also, Microsoft warned that its second-quarter revenue and profits will be 5 percent to 6 percent lower than previous estimates. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 is now expected to be $6.4 billion to $6.5 billion, with earnings per share of 46 cents or 47 cents, Microsoft said.