Wall Street's pessimistic mood intensified yesterday with investors sending stocks sharply lower amid increasing concerns about earnings and the slowdown in the US economy.
The high-tech focused Nasdaq composite index bore the brunt of a new string of analysts' downgrades in the technology sector and tumbled 151.55 to finish at 2,875.64. This was Nasdaq's lowest close since October 29 1999, when it finished at 2,875.22.
Other market indexes also recorded sharp declines. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 167.22 to 10,462.65, and the broader Standard and Poor's 500 index was off 25.11 at 1,342.61.
With the presidential election still unresolved and a spate of analyst downgrades of tech companies, already downtrodden investors saw little reason to buy.
Doubting they'd see the typical post-election rally, investors stuck to a strategy of selling stocks whose earnings forecasts are bleak, particularly high-techs.
