Stocks were hammered in late afternoon trading yesterday as Boeing helped erode last week's big rally after the aerospace giant lost out on a projected $200 billion US government contract for fighter jets. Also casting a pall on Wall Street were fears of debt default by Argentina, one of Latin America's biggest economies. Argentine and Brazilian stocks sank as a delay in a long-awaited Argentine economic package heightened fears that that economy was going to collapse.

Stocks rose last week on hopes that more US government spending and lower interest rates will lift the economy by 2002. But analysts also warned that weak economic numbers could test investors' resilience this week. Reports on jobs, consumer confidence, manufacturing and third-quarter growth are due this week, which could point to a looming recession.

Much of the upcoming economic reports will reflect the damage from last month's attacks on the US and will also include third-quarter GDP data.