Stocks dropped yesterday after sluggish quarterly results from industry bellwethers like Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing eroded Wall Street's hopes for a speedy rebound in corporate profits.
The technology-packed Nasdaq Composite Index fell 40.81 points, or 2.01 percent, to end at 1,988.56, based on the latest available numbers. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped 152.23 points, or 1.44 percent, to 10,424.42. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 19.82 points, or 1.64 percent, to 1,191.03.
3M fell $1.68 to $111.32 after it said results were lower because of weakness in its overseas markets and the strong US dollar.
But Cisco Systems bucked the downward trend with a 28-cent gain at $18.27. UBS Warburg said Cisco is not "scrambling" to make the current July quarter in the last two weeks and there is a sense of calm at the company.
Investors were tense ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony to the Senate Banking Committee today and hoped for hints on the nation's economic outlook.
