Dow Jones Industrial Average: 9,745.14 (-157.9)New York Report: Stocks spun sharply lower yesterday, dropping the Nasdaq composite index to near a four-month low, as investors feared their portfolios may be next to suffer from shaky bookkeeping or bad debts.

IBM, bluest of the market's blue- chips, fell $3.35, or 3.3 per cent, to $99.54 - its lowest since October - after a Wall Street investment firm said fears about the company's complex accounting practices would continue to weigh on the shares.

"All these accounting problems are part of the decline -- they represent a can of worms that hasn't been opened yet," said Mr Frank Gretz, a market analyst for brokerage Shields & Co.

"IBM is one of our catalysts today and telecom stocks are a real concern - you can worry about some of these companies having a credit crunch."

Investors are also worried fears about telecommunication companies' credit-worthiness could lead to capital squeezes, increasing the firm's borrowing costs and decreasing profits.