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NEW YORK -- Disappointed investors sent stocks sliding today when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan effectively dismissed the chance of an immediate interest rate cut. Dow off 141.60
Associated Press
Although the Fed is still expected to lower rates when it meets March 20, that wasn't soon enough for Wall Street, which had driven stocks higher on speculation of a faster rate reduction.
"I don't think the pressure's going to lift anytime soon. I don't see the pain being over yet," said Todd Clark, co-head of trading at WR Hambrecht, who believes stocks will fall further. "The market's in a state where it's going to continue to go down."
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 141.60 to 10,495.28 after falling as much as 213 points. The Nasdaq composite index remained at levels not seen since December 1998, falling 55.99 to 2,151.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 18.00 to 1,239.94.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 17 to 13 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,667 down, 1,388 up and 222 unchanged. Volume came to 1.18 billion shares vs. 1.10 billion yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 6.52 to 626.94, the American Stock Exchange composite index slipped 0.28 to 907.72 and the Russell 2000 index fell 4.38 to 474.37.
The Treasury's 10-year note rose 10/32 to 100 23/32; its yield fell 4 basis points to 4.91 percent. The 30-year bond gained 11/32 to 100 23/32; its yield fell 2 basis points to 5.33 percent.
Losses were widespread across blue chips and technology stocks.
J.P. Morgan Chase fell 94 cents to $46.66, and General Electric was off $1.50 at $46.50. General Motors lost $1.28 to $53.32. In the tech sector, Oracle dropped $2.69 to $19 and JDS Uniphase, which announced 3,000-plus job cuts, lost $1.06 to $26.75. Among the few bright spots were companies that tend to do well no matter what the economy looks like. Merck was up 29 cents at $80.20 and Coca-Cola rose $1.03 to $53.03.