Tumbling bond prices and a weak outlook for Raytheon deflated stocks today as traders, already anxious about interest rates, also found themselves nervous about third-quarter earnings reports.
The falling prices were not helped by news of the military coup in Pakistan. At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 231.12 at 10,417.06. It was the Dow's biggest point drop since May 27th, when it fell 235.23 points.
Broader stock indicators were also lower. The Nasdaq composite index retreated from the new record close of 2,915.95 it set on Monday.
According to preliminary calculations, the Standard and Poor's 500 fell 22.17 to 1,313.04, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 43.50 to 2,872.45.
NYSE volume totalled 769.10 million shares at the close against 653.75 million in the previous session.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 5.52 to 424.67.
Stocks soared last week after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. But the Fed left open the possibility of another rate increase, which would be the third this year.
Stocks were also held down by the dollar's weakness against the Japanese yen. In New York trading, the dollar bought 106.22 yen, down from 106.68 yen late on Monday.
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