Stocks Slide for 4th Day; Dow Falls below 10,000

Stocks slid for a fourth day Friday on more worries about how Europe is handling its debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 75 points in early trading.

The drop comes a day after major indexes posted their biggest declines in more than a year. That pushed the market to "correction" mode, having dropped more than 10 percent from their 2010 highs last month.

Investors again looked to Europe for direction. The German parliament approved the country's share of a $1 trillion plan to help contain debt problems in the European Union but major stock indexes fell more than 1 percent in Europe. Traders are worried stronger countries like Germany and France will be saddled with heavy debts to help weaker EU countries.

The euro rose to $1.2533 from $1.2464. The 16-nation currency has been a big driver of trading for weeks but many traders have been skeptical that any advances will be short-lived.

World markets have been falling on concerns that European debt problems will upend a global rebound. The fear is that huge deficits in countries including Greece and Portugal will cause a wave of bad debt to race through the world's financial system. Even if that is prevented, the prospect of heavier borrowing and sluggish growth has traders concerned.

In the first quarter-hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 73.31, or 0.7 percent, to 9,998.03. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 7.11, or 0.7 percent, to 1,064.18. The Nasdaq composite index fell 16.22, or 0.7 percent, to 2,187.79.

The Dow tumbled 376 points Thursday. The Dow and broader indexes are now in correction territory by having dropped more than 10 percent from their 2010 highs last month. The drop has erased the gains major indexes had made in 2010.

Bond prices rose, extending Thursday's gains when investors dumped anything seen as risky, including stocks and commodities. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.15 percent from 3.22 percent late Thursday.

Crude oil dropped $1.55 to $69.25 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices fell.


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