Stocks slid the most since June and Treasuries rose as companies from General Electric to McDonald’s and Microsoft posted results below estimates.
The Dow Jones industrial average sank 205 points, or 1.5 percent, to 13,343.51, and the Nasdaq fell 2 percent, to 3,005.62. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.7 percent to 1,433.19 at 4 p.m. in New York, its worst drop since June 21, as GE, McDonald’s and Microsoft declined.
Ten-year Treasury yields fell seven basis points, to 1.76 percent, after rising for four straight days. The euro weakened against the dollar for a second day while copper and oil dropped more than 2 percent.
The decline came on the 25th anniversary of the worst one-day crash in US history. Profits trailed analyst estimates at half of the 18 companies in the S&P 500 that released results since the close of trading Thursday, undermining confidence in an earnings season that had seen about three-quarters of companies beat forecasts.
“The sell-off has been worsening and no one wants to be long over the weekend,” said Frank Ingarra, who helps manage $1.4 billion at Greenwich, Conn.-based NorthCoast Asset Management LLC.
“We have a lack of good earnings numbers from the big names such as McDonald’s, Microsoft and GE, the housing numbers were weak and the resolution in Europe is taking longer than everyone expected.”
The S&P 500 slipped for a second day yesterday after rallying 2.3 percent during the previous three sessions, its best gain in more than a month. The benchmark gauge trimmed its weekly advance to 0.3 percent.
McDonald’s dropped 4.5 percent, the most in more than three years, to $88.72. The world’s largest restaurant chain by sales said its third-quarter profit fell 3.5 percent, as sales growth slowed at US stores.
The burger giant’s net income fell to $1.46 billion, or $1.43 a share, from $1.51 billion, or $1.45, a year earlier. Third-quarter revenue declined 0.2 percent, to $7.15 billion, the company said. Analysts estimated $7.17 billion, on average.