Stocks tumbled in mid-afternoon US trading today, sinking to fresh lows for the day, after news of a US attack on Iraq filtered through a market already reeling over dour profit outlooks from high-tech bellwethers and a spike in last month's inflation rate.
"When you get a piece of news like this, it only heightens the uncertainty in the market and creates greater likelihood of ulcers," said David Sowerby, a market strategist for Loomis Sayles, which oversees about $65 billion. "But the market is really responding to all the profit warnings."
The technology-packed Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 148 points, or 5.80 percent, to 2,404, after earlier falling 6 percent, or 153 points, to 2,400.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 154 points, or 1.42 percent, to 10,736. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 31 points, or 2.37 percent, to 1,295.