MarketWatch: U.S. stocks sink as home sales fall to 10-year low

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U.S. stocks sink as home sales fall to 10-year low
Shares of Washington Mutual among hardest hit, down 35% so far this week
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch


NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks declined sharply Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 200 points after two days of gains, as investors reacted to gloomy new data on the housing sector and the job market.

"Jobless claims surged and housing continues to slump. This is not good news for the economy and has caused the fear trade to come back," said Kevin Giddis, managing director, Morgan Keegan & Co.
The economic news "provided a backdrop for the sell-off," said Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 205.67 points, or 1.8%, to 11,426.71, with 24 of its 30 components trading lower. Pacing the decliners, General Motors Corp. shares tumbled 12%.
Other laggards weighing on the blue-chip index included Citigroup Inc, down 8.2%, and Boeing Co., off 6.6%.

The S&P 500 fell 20.42 points, or 1.6%, to 1,261.77, with the financial sector fronting the losses, down 4.6%, followed by consumer-discretionary issues, off 3.3%, and information technology, which lost 2.2%. .......(more)

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