Stocks sell off again
amid uncertainties

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By Amy Baldwin
Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Worries that rising tensions in the Middle East could quash the economic recovery drove stock prices sharply lower today, with the Dow industrials dropping more than 100 points in their fourth straight losing session.

Analysts said investors have no reason to commit to stocks, including those priced lower after two weeks of consistent selling. "The worry is that the turmoil in the Middle East will lead to a rise in oil prices and derail the economic recovery," both in the United States and globally, said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at First Albany Corp. "It is very troubling. It is very nerve-racking. ... You can't help but be worried."

The Dow closed down 115.42 to 10,198.29. The blue-chip index has lost 228.62 in the past four sessions. The Dow also posted its lowest close in five weeks, having last finished lower on Feb. 28, when it stood at 10,106.13. The Nasdaq composite index declined 20.05 to 1,784.35 after falling 58.22 yesterday to its lowest close in a month. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11.36 to 1,125.40.

Decliners outnumbered advancers about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,984 down, 1,165 up and 182 unchanged. Volume came to nearly 1.2 billion shares vs. yesterday's 1.16 billion.

The NYSE composite index lost 5.64 to 590.68, the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 7.87 to 907.98 and the Russell 2000 index fell 3.89 to 496.60.

The Treasury's 2-year note rose 532 to 100632; its yield fell 8 basis points to 3.53 percent. The 10-year note rose 1532 to 963032; its yield lost 6 basis points to 5.28 percent. The 30-year bond rose 1732 to 9518; its yield lost 4 basis points to 5.72 percent.

Analysts also attributed the selloff to profit-taking following strides the market made in February and the first half of March amid a series of encouraging economic reports. The Dow is now down 4.1 percent from its high for the year, 10,635.25 on March 19 and is up just 1.8 percent since Jan. 2.

"Portfolio managers who had been looking for a reason to sell certainly got it," Johnson said.

Technology and telecommunications stocks were among the weakest today. Many analysts expect the sectors to be the last to recover from the recession because of a continued lag in demand.

IBM fell $1.05 to $99.96 the day after Goldman Sachs cut its first-quarter revenue estimate on the Dow industrial. Chip maker Micron Technology declined $1.62 to $30.78 following a ratings downgrade by Morgan Stanley.

WorldCom fell 27 cents to $6.51 on news that the company will cut 3,700 jobs in the United States, or about 4 percent of its global work force. Additionally, Lehman Brothers downgraded the telecom stock.

Downgrades by brokerages hurt stocks of other companies as well. Dow industrial Caterpillar stumbled $1.48 to $54.92 after J.P. Morgan Chase lowered its rating.

Selling spread across most of Wall Street, however, and even positive news from some companies failed to trigger buying. DuPont, also a Dow stock, fell 68 cents to $46.67 despite its forecast that first-quarter earnings will exceed analysts' expectations.

After the market closed, Dell Computer raised its forecast for fiscal first-quarter sales and repeated that profit in the period ending May 3 will be 16 cents a share. Dell shares jumped as much as 3.1 percent on the news. Revenue will be about $7.9 billion, the company said. Dell in February said it would earn 16 cents a share on sales of $7.65 billion to $7.82 billion.

Dell shares jumped to $27 after the revised forecast. They fell 38 cents to $26.19 in regular trading before the announcement.

Also, Bristol-Myers Squibb said after the market closed that first-quarter sales fell about 7 percent from a year earlier and reduced its estimate of profit, excluding certain items, to 44 cents from 47 cents a share. Profit in the full year will fall 25 percent to 30 percent from 2001's $2.41 a share. The drug maker also said that it will be reorganizing its company. The stock, which lost 54 cents in the regular session, fell an additional $4.54 to $33.70 in after-hours trading.