Stocks fell in early-morning trading today as Wall Street fretted about a dim corporate profit outlook, the uncertain outcome of the US retaliatory strikes in Afghanistan and possible new attacks on US shores.
This week marks the start of the third-quarter earnings season, when companies report financial results and hint at what is to come later in the year. Profits are expected to fall more than 20 per cent - the worst quarterly performance in a decade.
Investors are also worried about the cost and duration of a sustained military campaign in response to the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as fears of more attacks on US targets.
Among company specific news, chip makers such as Intel were particularly hard hit after a Wall Street firm cut its sales estimates for the company. In addition, Microsoft weighed on market indexes after the US Supreme Court rejected the software giant's request to overturn an earlier ruling that the Microsoft violated US antitrust laws.
Intel dropped 3.43 per cent to $21.70 and Xilinx Inc. lost 1.9 per cent at $27.50. Microsoft sank 3.2 per cent to $56.24.