Nasdaq slides to 6-year low

NEW YORK -- The Nasdaq composite index slid to a six-year low Monday and the rest of Wall Street fell equally hard amid a worsening outlook for the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 100 points. \nResponding to a smattering of bad news -- and lacking any positive economic data -- investors essentially sold across the board, punishing shares of everything from Microsoft to Wal-Mart. The selloff carried the Nasdaq to its lowest close since September 1996, and the Dow back toward the four-year low it reached July 23. \n"The air is thick with concern about the pace of corporate profit growth or the lack thereof, and I think the reports that we're seeing about a possible retest of July's lows are somewhat making that a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Charles G. Crane, strategist for Victory SBSF Capital Management. \nThe Nasdaq fell 36.16, or 3.0 percent, to 1,184.93, its lowest close since it reached 1,165.81 on Sept. 12, 1996. \nThe broader market also retreated. \nThe Dow fell 113.87, or 1.4 percent, to 7,872.15, after declining 3.9 percent last week. The losses gave the index its third triple-digit decline in five sessions -- and put it just 169 points above its July 23 low, 7,702.34. \nThe Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 11.69, or 1.4 percent, to 833.70, following a weekly drop of 5 percent. \nAll three indexes have been on a month-long losing streak. Since Aug. 22, the Dow has lost nearly 1,200 points. Investors have increasingly lost confidence due to mixed economic news, earnings warnings, and concerns about a war with Iraq. \nAnalysts say the strength of the economic recovery has been investors' main concern, particularly with the release of earnings warnings this month. Monday's news gave investors little reason to believe that a turnaround would happen anytime soon and left open the possibility of a double-dip recession. \nThe New York-based Conference Board reported its Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 0.2 percent last month, the third straight month of declines -- and a bigger-than-expected drop than analysts had forecast. \nJDS Uniphase fell 21 cents, or 9.8 percent, to $1.93 after the optical technology company lowered its first-quarter outlook. The selling spread across the tech sector. Microsoft tumbled $1.96 to $45.50, while Texas Instruments dropped 77 cents to $14.61. \nEl Paso plunged $4.16 to $7.51 after a federal regulatory judge ruled that the energy company had cut back on California's natural gas supplies during the state's 2000-2001 energy crisis, helping to push power prices sharply higher. \nThe retail sector was particularly hard-hit. Wal-Mart declined $1.95 to $52.75 after the discounter said September sales will likely come in at the low end of its estimates of a 4 to 6 percent increase. Target fell $1.70 to $31.96. \nFinancial stocks were also weak. J.P. Morgan Chase slid 92 cents to $19.26, while American Express tumbled 38 cents to $31.40. \nGainers included Dole Food, which rose $4.51 to $29, after CEO David Murdock made a $1.2 billion offer to buy the remaining 76 percent of shares of the pineapple producer. \nInvestors were also focused on what the Federal Reserve would do at its meeting Tuesday. Although the market wants to see how the central bank handles interest rates, analysts say there is equal interest in how the Fed assesses the economy. \n"You'd be afraid of hearing the Fed say that things aren't getting better. What you're hoping for is that they'll say that, in looking at all indicators, they're really seeing things picking up," said Brian Bruce, director of global investments, PanAgora Asset Management Inc. \nDeclining issues outnumbered advancers more than 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE consolidated volume was moderate at 1.68 billion shares, down from Friday's 2.16 billion. \nTurnover was especially heavy Friday because it was what is called a triple-witching session, when the quarterly expiration of index futures and index and stock options occur. \nThe Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, fell 8.60, or 2.3 percent, to 358.68. \nIn Europe, Germany's DAX index lost 5.0 percent, France's CAC-40 fell 3.3 percent, and Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 3.1 percent. Japan's markets were closed Monday for Autumn Equinox Day, a national holiday.