Print |
E-mail to a friend
BUSINESS
Stocks tumble as companies warn of weak results
NEW YORK -- A warning from tech giant Intel about poor business conditions and more evidence of rising unemployment left stocks with their biggest losses in a month Wednesday.
The news upended some investors' hopes for a speedy economic recovery this year and sent the major stock indexes down more than 2.5 percent.
Intel's second warning since November, as well as bleak outlooks from aluminum producer Alcoa and media industry bellwether Time Warner, underscored the breadth of the economy's slowdown. In addition, the ADP National Employment Report said private sector jobs fell by a greater-than-expected 693,000 in December. That made investors nervous ahead of Friday's employment report from the government.
But unlike the panicked declines seen last fall, Wednesday's pullback was more orderly and stocks finished off their lowest levels of the session. Some retrenchment had been expected following sharp gains in recent sessions and a 24.2 percent rally in the Standard & Poor's 500 index since Nov. 20 ahead of Wednesday's slide.
Wall Street has been absorbing poor economic and corporate news far better since late November, with some investors betting on a recovery in the second half of this year or by early 2010. But the latest round of unnerving news was too proved to be too much to set aside.
The glum news sent the Dow down 245.40, or 2.72 percent, to 8,769.70, its biggest point and percentage decline since Dec. 1. Broader stock indicators also tumbled. The S&P 500 index fell 28.05, or 3 percent, to 906.65. It was the biggest drop for the index since Dec. 1.
