Another triple-digit drop for Dow; global economy hits
New York (Oct 2) U.S. stocks declined for a fourth session on Thursday, extending their worst start to October in three years, as the International Monetary Fund called the global economy softer than thought and the European Central Bank said it would step up stimulus.
Twitter climbed after JPMorgan Chase upgraded its shares. Tesla Motors rose after the maker of electric cars said it would come out with a new offering next week. DirecTV gained after inking a $12 deal to keep airing National Football League games on Sundays.
The ECB held interest rates unchanged, with ECB President Mario Draghi saying the central bank would purchase assets for two years or more to lift inflation and increase economic growth.
"The key is what Draghi said, and he was quite pessimistic," said Peter Cardillo, market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
In prepared remarks, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the IMF would cut its forecast for potential growth, with only a modest pickup expected in 2015.
U.S. data had the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropping last week, falling by 8,000 to 287,000. The report comes a day before the September jobs report.
Less positive was a 10.1 percent drop in factory orders in August, with the number worse than the estimated 8.7 percent decline.
Near session lows, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lately down 126.81 points, or 0.7 percent, at 16,677.90, with Walt Disney pacing blue-chip declines that extended to 25 of 30 components.
The S&P 500 shed 17.44 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,928.72, with energy and materials leading losses and consumer staples the sole advancing sector among its 10 major industry groups.
The CBOE Volatility Index, one measure of investor uncertainty, rose 6.5 percent to 17.79.
The Nasdaq lost 47.10 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,375.08.
After finishing more than 10 percent down from its record on Wednesday, leaving it in correction territory, the Russell 2000 fell further on Thursday.
For every share climbing, two declined on the New York Stock Exchange, where 258 million shares traded as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Composite volume neared 1.4 billion.
Source: CNBC
