NEW YORK » Wall Street retreated yesterday after forecasts from DuPont, Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments raised fears that companies' outlooks for the fourth quarter and beyond could indeed signal a severe economic downturn.

Some pullback was to be expected after the Dow shot up 413 points on Monday. But investors poring over a mix of companies' third-quarter reports found enough unsettling outlooks to set off heavy selling.

Strains in the credit markets eased further in response to a sweeping series of bailout measures by world governments, including a joint U.S. and European plan to buy stakes in private banks to boost to their lending.

The technology-focused Nasdaq saw steeper declines than the other major indexes after server and software company Sun Microsystems Inc. warned it would post a loss for its fiscal first quarter and book a write-down. Texas Instruments Inc. shares fell to their lowest level in more than five years after the chip maker turned in disappointing earnings and issued a lackluster forecast amid slowing orders.

The Dow fell 231.77, or 2.5 percent, to 9,033.66.

Broader indexes also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 30.35, or 3.08 percent, to 955.05. The Nasdaq composite index shed 73.35, or 4.14 percent, to 1,696.68.

Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume to 5.09 billion shares compared with 5.1 billion shares traded Monday. Volume, which surpassed 10 billion at the height of the market's volatility, has retreated to more normal levels.

Yesterday, the Fed took more steps to break through a credit clog that has hobbled lending and threatens to plunge the country into a deeper slowdown. The central bank announced it will provide up to $540 billion in financing to help the money market mutual fund industry.

The three-month Treasury bill yielded 1.07 percent, down from 1.12 percent late Monday. The levels are a notable improvement from the 0.20 percent seen last Wednesday, when investors were willing to take the slimmest of returns in exchange for a safe place to keep their money.

Longer-term Treasurys rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.74 percent from 3.87 percent late Monday.

The dollar was higher against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Texas Instruments fell $1.13, or 6.3 percent, to $16.85, hitting $15.85 during the session, its lowest level since March 2003. Meanwhile, Sun Microsystems dropped $1.01, or 17.5 percent, to $4.77.

Among blue chips, DuPont Co. fell $2.89, or 8 percent, to $33.28, while Pfizer Inc. ended unchanged at $17.34 after the drug maker's results narrowly topped projections for the third quarter.

Light, sweet crude fell $3.36 to settle at $70.89 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.19, or 2.96 percent, to 530.65.