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NEW YORK -- Spooked by an earnings warning from Microsoft, investors today dumped high-technology stocks in a selloff that quickly spread across the market. Dow sinks 240
Associated Press
A bearish forecast from household products company Clorox added to Wall Street's fears that the economy is slowing too much, and that earnings might fall more than expected.
"It's not just tech companies warning any more, now you're into consumer products. It was banking earlier this month, this week UPS said business wasn't that good and now you have Clorox," said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Prudential Securities. "It's an overall economic malaise and each time one of these announcements comes out, it undermines the market."
The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 240.03 at 10,434.96, a 2.3 percent loss. The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.8 percent, falling 75.16 to 2,653.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 28.78 to 1,312.15, a 2.2 percent loss.
The NYSE composite index fell 9.72 to 635.86, the American Stock Exchange composite index lost 5.19 to 865.21 and the Russell 2000 index dropped 3.78 to 458.04.
Decliners led advancers by more than 7 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,600 down, 1305 up and 411 unchanged. Volume was 1.56 billion shares vs. 1.05 billion yesterday.
The Treasury's 10-year note rose 7/32 to 104 9/32; its yield fell 3 basis points to 5.18 percent. The 30-year bond rose to 112; its yield fell 1 basis point to 5.43 percent.
It was the heaviest trading day ever on the New York Stock Exchange.