The Dow fell 514 points, or 5.7 percent, to 8519.21. The S&P 500 fell 6.1 percent. Weak corporate profit forecasts, a jump in the dollar and falling oil prices spooked investors, according to various market reports. The fears suggest a global slowdown will happen even though lending may return to normal.
The dollar hit multi-year highs against major currencies. The market seemed to anticipate a bad week as hundreds of companies begin to report their earnings for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. Wachovia spooked investors by reporting a huge loss, sending its stock down 6 percent to $5.71.
The picture was mixed for tech stocks. Amazon saw its stock dip 11 percent in after-hours trading after it reported that its outlook for the fourth quarter was weaker than expected. Apple bucked the trend, with its stock rising $5.38 a share, or 6 percent, to $96.87, after it reported strong earnings on Tuesday afternoon.
Although T-Mobile launched its G1 phones with Google Android software, Google stock fell $7.08 a share to $355.67. Yahoo, which announced layoffs of 1,500 yesterday as well as weak earnings, saw its stock rise 32 cents to $12.35 a share. Intel shares were off 67 cents to close at $14.58, while Microsoft closed down $1.83 to $21.53 a share.
The Dow fell 231 points on Tuesday, after weak forecasts from Texas Instruments, Sun Microsystems and DuPont.
[photo: Flickr/petrick]