Dow dips as investors rush to unload stocks
• Hawai'i Stocks
• Updated Market Chart
By Hope Yen
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Disappointing earnings from Micron Technology prompted a selloff on Wall Street today, as investors unloaded stocks on renewed anxiety about the strength of corporate profits.
Analysts said investors were remaining cautious about committing to the market, particularly after an eight-week blue-chip rally in the autumn that some believe came too fast. Light trading volume also contributed to exaggerated price swings.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 88.04, or 1 percent, to close at 8,447.35, according to preliminary calculations. It fell 92 points yesterday.
The Nasdaq composite index declined 30.55, or 2.2 percent, to 1,361.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 11.87, or 1.3 percent, to 891.12.
Chip maker Micron Technology fell $3.06, or 23 percent, to $10.22 after reporting a first-quarter loss that was worse than Wall Street expected. The news dragged down other tech stocks.
Concerns about a war with Iraq also weighed on the market.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers about 5 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light. The Russell 2000 index, a barometer of smaller company stocks, fell 7.32, or 1.9 percent, to 383.93.
Japan's Nikkei stock average finished 2 percent lower today. In Europe, France's CAC-40 lost 2 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 declined 1.9 percent and Germany's DAX index fell 3.7 percent.
