U.S. Stock Markets Tumble Amid Economic, Profits Worry

In a sign of shaken investor confidence amid growing concern about weak corporate profits and the struggling economy, U.S. stocks took a big hit Monday.

The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index fell below the 2,000 mark for the first time since Dec. 1998, and the Dow suffered its fifth-biggest point loss ever.

The Nasdaq index, which lost 129 points to close at 1,924, is now 60% off the all-time high reached on March 10, 2000. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 436 points to close at 10,208.25, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell more than 53 points.

The Associated Press reported that USB Warburg’s Ed Kerschner, Wall Street's No. 1 rated strategist, had cut his 2001 earnings outlook on Monday for companies in the S&P 500 by 3.5%. Kerschner citeda drop in manufacturing activity and cuts in corporate spending for his more negative outlook.

One of Monday’s biggest losers was Cisco, which dropped nearly 9%, as investors continued to react to the networking company's Friday announcement that it will cut several thousand jobs due to soft demand, Reuters reported.

Also, AP noted the biggest reason behind the ongoing slide is investors' frustration over the fact that there's no apparent end to the stream of weak earnings reports from U.S. firms. Transport Topics

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