Stock market tanks again on further fears about global economy
The U.S. stock market fell again today as investors worried that the global economy is still weakening despite recent attempts to intervene.
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]
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About the Author, Dean Takahashi
Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.