NEW YORK >> Stocks took another nosedive today as a drop in retail sales and reduced outlooks for financial companies prompted investors to again question the pace of the economic recovery. Market gives up gains
By Amy Baldwin
Associated PressThe Dow Jones industrial average had its second triple-digit loss in three days.
Selling accelerated in late afternoon after several attempts at a rebound failed.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers slightly more than 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was moderate at 1.40 billion shares, down from yesterday's 1.73 billion.
Wall Street's retreat followed yesterday's late-session buying spree, which analysts downplayed and attributed to a technical factor called short covering. In short covering, investors must buy stock to replace shares that they borrowed earlier and sold on anticipation of further declines.
The Dow closed down 114.91 today, or 1.2 percent, at 9,502.80. The drop erased its 100.45-point advance yesterday.
The broader market also declined. The Nasdaq composite index fell 22.23, or 1.5 percent, to 1,496.89, offsetting the 21.94 it gained Wednesday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index stumbled 10.70, or 1.1 percent, to 1,009.56, more than negating yesterday's gain of 6.66. The Russell 2000 index fell 7.01, or 1.5 percent, to 455.98.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was up 1/2 point to 99 13/16 today, while its yield fell to 4.90 percent from 4.97 percent yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes were up 1/8 point and yielded 2.97 percent, down from 3.04 percent late yesterday.
A big pull on the market today came from a 0.9 percent decline in retail sales for May. It was the largest drop in six months and was due to decreased spending on cars and clothes, said the Commerce Department.
Overseas, markets were lower with Japan's Nikkei stock average finishing down 1.6 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 1.6 percent, France's CAC-40 fell 1.2 percent, and Germany's DAX index declined 0.9 percent.