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Bin Laden tape fuels
stock market selloff
NEW YORK >> New worries about terrorism and another disappointing tech outlook sent stocks falling sharply for a second straight session yesterday, with technology stocks and the Nasdaq composite index bearing the brunt of the selling.
Wall Street's concerns about terrorism resurfaced with the broadcast of a videotape purportedly of Osama bin Laden; the broadcast, on the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera, came one day before the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Meanwhile, Texas Instruments Inc. narrowed its third-quarter revenue estimate, cutting a penny off the high end, just a day after a disappointing revenue outlook from Nokia Corp. prompted investors to turn cautious and lock in some gains from the market's recent advance. Still, Wall Street had room to pull back after seeing its major stock gauges climb for four weeks running.
"The market was ripe for a selloff. Obviously, Texas Instruments is helping that selloff to accelerate," said Peter Cardillo, president and chief strategist of Global Partner Securities Inc. "But I don't think it is the beginning of significant pullback. I just think it is a little drop here."
The tech-dominated Nasdaq closed down 49.62, or 2.7 percent, at 1,823.81, having shed 15.19 on Tuesday. The last time the Nasdaq had a bigger one-day loss was nearly two months ago, on July 17 when it forfeited 49.95, or 2.9 percent.
The market's other major gauges also retreated. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 86.74, or 0.9 percent, to 9,420.46, following the previous session's loss of 79.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.25, or 1.2 percent, to 1,010.92, after losing 8.47 Tuesday.
Declining issues beat advancers 5 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was 2.03 billion shares, up from 1.88 billion on Tuesday.
The Russell 2000 index fell 11.81, or 2.3 percent, to 501.76. The NYSE composite index dropped 57.95, or 1 percent, to 5,708.23.
The American Stock Exchange composite index lost 4.14, or 0.4 percent, to 988.67.
The 2-year Treasury note rose 332 to 100 2332, with its yield falling to 1.63 percent. The 10-year note gained 2 2/32 to 99 2732, with its yield declining to 4.27 percent.
Disappointing high-tech earnings forecasts contributed to yesterday's decline.
Texas Instruments fell $1.90 to $23.42 after shaving a penny off the high-end and low-end of its third-quarter earnings estimate. Nokia, meanwhile, fell 59 cents to $15.39 the day after its downbeat revenue outlook inspired investors to collect some profits. Yesterday, UBS Warburg cut its rating on the cell phone maker to "neutral" from "buy."
Brokerage house downgrades pulled other stocks lower. Micron Technology Inc. dropped $1.35 to $13.35 after Soundview Technology lowered its rating on the semiconductor maker to "neutral" from "outperform."
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