A profit warning from Intel pushed the stock market into its worst slide since early January, prompting investors to second-guess Wall Street's record-setting rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid as much as 133 points Thursday before finishing down 94.91, or 1.1 percent, at 8,444.33. The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index tumbled 47.78, or 2.7 percent, to 1,711.92, its third biggest one-day point drop.It was the steepest decline since Jan. 9, when the Dow plunged 220 points amid heightened jitters over the economic crisis in Asia, underscoring the steadiness of the market's rebound. Notably, leading stock measures are still boasting hefty gains for the new year. The Dow is up 6.8 percent, and the Nasdaq composite is up 9 percent.
``We could probably make too much of this,' said Peter Canelo, U.S. investment strategist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. ``We just had a 1,000-point rally (by the Dow) since Jan. 9 - technology was the leader - so we're probably due for a little profit-taking anyway.'
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After Wednesday's close, Intel announced that its first-quarter profits and revenues have been below expectations due to sluggish orders for its semiconductors. Many analysts took the warning as a sign of slack demand for personal computers.
Intel plunged 10 13/16, or 12.5 percent, to 75 5/8 as the most active Nasdaq issue Thursday, followed by fellow computer-industry bellwethers Microsoft, down 2 at 80 1/16, and Dell Computer, down 7 3/16 at 131 7/8.
Similarly, IBM and Hewlett-Packard helped lead the Dow's decline, falling the equivalent of more than 20 Dow points.
