Stocks fell sharply yesterday in a late sell-off, with the Dow Jones industrial average sliding below 9,000 amid signs that the market's record-setting advance has petered out.
The Dow fell 1.6%, its fourth time back below 9,000 since the blue-chip barometer first closed about that milestone on April 6th.
An early 54-point gain had put the Dow within 50 points of May 13th's closing record of 9,211.84.
Broad-market indicators also plunged over the final hour after surrendering modest opening gains. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index suffered heavy losses for the fourth straight session. The heavy-selling came despite some encouraging economic data and a strong bond market, which rallied as the dollar surged in currency trading.
The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 16.45 to 1,094.02, and the Nasdaq composite fell 16.45 to 1,778.09, its first finish below 1,700 since April 7th. NYSE volume totalled 529.30 million shares.
