Stocks in New York plunged yesterday as optimism about corporate earnings gave way to jitters about rising interest rates and their impact on profit growth.
The Dow Jones fell 243.54 to close at 11,008.17, its steepest loss since January 4th, when it lost 359 points.
Broader stock indicators also fell in a volatile session. The Nasdaq plummeted 139.32 points to close at 4,096.08, its worst loss since January 5th, when it lost 150 points. According to preliminary calculations, the Standard and Poor's 500 fell 39.68 to 1,401.68.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a two-to-one margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,053 down, 1,037 up and 450 unchanged. NYSE volume totalled 1.1 billion shares at the close, compared to 1.21 billion in the previous session.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell for the first time since January 12th, losing 10.99 to 522.95.
Traders said some investors sold stocks to collect profits from a solid rise in the Nasdaq last week. High-tech leaders such as Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems fell.
