Economic Reports Put Stocks In a Spin
A series of discouraging reports on the economy, showing that productivity growth was slowing and that retail sales fell short of hopes, sent stocks into a sharp decline today.</br></br>The sell-off more than offset the market's big advance on Wednesday, which analysts had attributed to bargain hunters, not a solid investor commitment to stocks.</br></br>"Everyone is definitely looking at the data on the economy, and they really want to see some glimmers of hope that we are going to get a pickup in profit growth," said Joseph Keating, chief investment officer at AmSouth Asset Management in Birmingham.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 141.42 points, or 1.7 percent, at 8283.70. The loss wiped out Wednesday's 117.07- point gain, the Dow's only advance in seven sessions.</br></br>The broader market also dropped sharply. The Nasdaq composite index sank 41.31, or 3.2 percent, to 1251.00, its fifth loss in seven days. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 14.25, or 1.6 percent, to 879.15, its sixth loss in seven days.