Stocks fall on company earnings, overseas trouble

1/31/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Wall-Street-538

    Trader Sean Spain works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. Stocks fell sharply in early trading Friday, as investors fretted over disappointing earnings from companies like Amazon.com and more trouble in overseas markets. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

  • NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are lower in midday trading as investors fret over disappointing results from Amazon.com and more trouble in overseas markets.

    The Dow Jones industrial average fell 89 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,759 shortly after noon today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,788, and the Nasdaq composite dropped eight points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,114.

    The Dow had been down more than 220 points earlier in the day.

    Earlier, investors were unnerved by an unexpected fall in eurozone inflation, which showed the recovery is still weak there.

    Currencies for several emerging-market countries also fell against the dollar.

    In the United States, Amazon.com fell $36.75, or 9 percent, to $366.26 after company late Thursday reported results below Wall Street expectations.