07.06.2004
Associated Press

Nervous investors sent stocks lower Tuesday, opening the week concerned over the strength of the economy, oil prices and the presidential race. Technology stocks fell sharply after a brokerage firm lowered its profit outlook for Intel.

With last Friday's lower-than-expected job creation figures still fresh in their minds, investors were concerned that the fast pace of economic growth was slowing. And with little economic data due this week - and the bulk of second-quarter earnings still at least a week away - the uncertainty quickly translated into pessimism.

The negativity was further fueled by a sharp spike in oil prices, which rose 76 cents to $39.15 a barrel in early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wall Street was also concerned about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's selection of John Edwards as vice president. Edwards, a trial lawyer, is seen by the conservative investment community as a proponent of the expensive class-action litigation that often plagues corporate America.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.33, or 0.3 percent, to 10,249.50.

Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 6.60, or 0.6 percent, at 1,118.78, and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index dropped 26.90, or 1.3 percent, to 1,979.76.

Dow component Intel Corp. dropped 12 cents to $26.21 after Lehman Brothers reduced its earnings forecast for the microprocessor manufacturer due to lower back-to-school demand for personal computers.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. was upgraded from "underperform" to "market perform" by Wachovia Securities because of steady business growth. Boeing gained 40 cents to $49.92.

Acuity Brands Inc. reported an 18 percent rise in third-quarter earnings Tuesday and reiterated the company's full-year outlook, but the lighting and specialty products company missed expectations by 2 cents per share. Acuity fell 54 cents to $25.43.

Veritas Software Corp. plunged $8.40, or 32 percent, to $18.15 after it lowered its second-quarter earnings and revenue outlook, citing weakness in corporate software sales.

Drug store chain Rite Aid Corp. said its same-store sales rose 2.4 percent, following a strong trend in the pharmacy sector. Rite Aid slipped a penny to $5.07.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 146.04 million shares, compared with 136.96 at the same point on Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 5.47, or 0.9 percent, at 577.25.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.6 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.6 percent, Germany's DAX index lost 1.2 percent, and France's CAC-40 dropped 0.8 percent.

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