Wall Street Stocks Wipe Out Year's Gains
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology stocks sank in late afternoon trading on Friday, driving the Nasdaq market and the blue-chip Dow into negative territory for the year, as bellwethers like Dell Computer Corp. (NasdaqNM:DELL - news) and Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news) stoked fears the slowing U.S. economy will batter the high-tech sector.
``We are oversold in Nasdaq, but it doesn't mean a thing,'' said Larry Rice, chief investment officer at Josephthal Lyon & Ross. ``Fundamentally, there is no reason to buy just yet.''
The tech-stacked Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) plunged 92.37 points, or 3.61 percent, to 2,469.69. Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news), the world's No. 1 computer networking company, continued to bleed after missing estimates for the first time in more than six years and warning of slow growth. The stock fell $1-1/2 to $28-1/2, after hitting an 18-month low of $28-3/8.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 95.18 points, or 0.87 percent, to 10,785.37, weighed down by marquee high-tech names. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) slipped 17.27 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,315.26.
Both the Nasdaq and Dow were down for the year. The Nasdaq had raked in a gain of nearly 16 percent at its peak in late January, while the Dow was up 1.8 percent at its peak the beginning of February. |
