STOCKS in New York slid yesterday with investors locking in gains on three straight winning sessions and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging on worries about IBM's profit margins.
On Wall Street, the Dow industrials dropped 70.09 points to close at 5,549.93.
In the last four sessions, the barometer of big US companies had erased two thirds of its recent 200 point slide, which was caused by interest rate and inflation worries amid a series of strong economic reports.
Most of the other broad market measures were negative too, but not as sharply.
The American Stock Exchange's market value index, which set a new high on Tuesday, managed another positive session.
IBM, which accounted for more than a third of the Dow's slide, started the day higher. But a subsequent conference call with the computer maker's chief financial officer raised analyst concerns about profit margins.
