Wall St marks crash anniversary with fresh tumble

Wall Street shares took a dive Friday as fresh worries about the outlook for the economy and earnings heightened skittishness on the 20th anniversary of the New York market crash.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 366.94 points (2.64 percent) to end at 13,522.02 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq sank 74.15 points (2.65 percent) to 2,725.16.
The broad-market Standard Poor's 500 index plummeted 39.45 points (2.56 percent) to 1,500.63.
The market rout came after several major companies, especially in the financial sector, reported soft earnings and suggested that profits would be hurt by economic conditions in the coming months.
"The stock market took it on the chin as this week's negative bias, continued credit/sub-prime concerns and a few more earnings disappointments applied the pressure," analysts at Briefing.com said in a note to clients.
"Whether it was merely a coincidence or a psychological factor for the market, today marked the 20th anniversary of the October 1987 crash when the Dow dropped 508 points."
Andy Brooks, head of trading at T. Rowe Price, said the slide was most likely an emotional reaction to the anniversary of "Black Monday," which saw the largest single-day point drop for the Dow.