Stocks slide after Fed cuts stimulus; Weak earnings, emerging market woes also weigh

1/29/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Wall-Street-534

    Specialist Anthony Rinaldi, right, works with traders at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014. Stocks are lower in early trading as weak earnings from several U.S. companies dented investors' confidence. Worries about emerging markets were also coming back after relief faded over an effort by Turkey to shore up its struggling currency. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • NEW YORK — Stocks are closing sharply lower following weak earnings from several U.S. companies, more trouble in emerging markets, and economic stimulus cuts from the Federal Reserve.

    The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 18 points, or 1 percent, to close at 1,774 today. The S&P 500 has ended lower on four of the last five days.

    The Dow Jones industrial average lost 189 points, or 1.2 percent, to 15,738. The Nasdaq composite dropped 46 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,051.

    The stock market opened lower after companies including Boeing and AT&T gave weak earnings outlooks and investors worried about plunging currencies in developing countries like Turkey and South Africa.

    Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.69 percent from 2.75 percent late Tuesday.