US stocks tumbled today after a tape believed to be from Osama bin Laden, which US officials said suggests Iraq is linked to global terrorism, unnerved investors who fear it increases war's likelihood.
"If that's the case, then war is inevitable," said Mr Anthony Iuliano, head trader for Glenmede Trust, referring to the link between global terrorism and Iraq that US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the tape suggests.
Mr Powell said the message from bin Laden is the reason the United States cannot rely on just containing Iraq with more United Nations weapons inspectors.
Stocks were modestly higher earlier in the session as Federal Reserve Chairman Mr Alan Greenspan told a Senate committee that uncertainties over a possible war with Iraq posed "formidable barriers" to business spending and made it tough to gauge the US economy's health. Stocks reversed course when Mr Powell spoke about the bin Laden tape. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed down 76.86 points, or 1 percent, to 7,843.25, according to the latest figures.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 6.76 points, or 0.81 per cent, at 829.21. The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite declined 1.17 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 1,295.51.