Stocks closed sharply lower in New York yesterday on another batch of disappointing earnings reports and fears that earnings will shrink in the second half of 2000.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 183.49, or 1.7 per cent, at 10,516.48.

Internet retailing giant Amazon.com on Wednesday posted a wider quarterly loss that bested Wall Street forecasts by two cents, and said it expected losses as a percentage of sales to shrink to the single digits by the end of the year.

Seattle-based Amazon said that for its second quarter ended June 30th, it lost $89 million, or 33 cents a share on a pro forma basis that excluded special items, compared to a loss of $67 million, or 26 cents a share in the year-ago period.

The company had been expected to lose 35 cents a share, according to the consensus analysts' estimate compiled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Shares in Amazon plunged in after-hours trading to below 32 cents.