US STOCKS-Market drops 3 percent on profit jitters, oil reco
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  (Updates to close)\n* Dow falls to September 2006 low\n* GM shares tumble more than 10 percent on Goldman view\n* Nasdaq down 3 percent on weak profit outlooks\n* Citigroup, Merrill slide on brokerage forecast\nBy Kristina Cooke NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks plunged on\nThursday, with the Dow sliding about 360 points to a 21-month\nlow as oil hit a record and Wall Street powerhouse Goldman\nSachs urged investors to sell bank and automaker shares,\nescalating concern about the outlook for profits.\nOil surged above $140 a barrel in New York trading,\ncompounding fears that soaring inflation will hamper a global\neconomy already on the ropes.\nInvestors found little to lift their spirits amid the\nbarrage of harsh news, and the three major U.S. stock indexes\nfell 3 percent. All 30 stocks in the Dow ended in the red.\nTechnology shares were hammered after weak profit outlooks\nfrom BlackBerry maker Research in Motion <RIMM.O><RIM.TO> and\nand software maker Oracle Corp <ORCL.O>. Disappointing U.S.\nearnings from Nike <NKE.N> further darkened the mood.\nFinancial stocks plummeted after Goldman Sachs forecast\nmore write-downs at Citigroup <C.N> and Merrill Lynch & Co\n<MER.N>.\nGeneral Motors' <GM.N> stock sank to its lowest level in\n53 years, after Goldman warned that the big U.S. automaker\ncould have to raise capital and cut dividends in a brutal\nslowdown for the auto industry.\n"The price of oil is now at $140 and there is real concern\nthat global growth is going to seriously slow down and that's\nhitting all sectors," said Eddie Bakker, managing director of\nequity sales and trading at Calyon Securities in New York.\nThe Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slid 358.41\npoints, or 3.03 percent, to 11,453.42, putting it within the\ngrasp of a bear market.\nThe Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> tumbled 38.82\npoints, or 2.94 percent, to 1,283.16, while the Nasdaq\nComposite Index <.IXIC> dropped 79.89 points, or 3.33 percent,\nto close at 2,321.37. It was the Nasdaq's worst one-day\npercentage drop since January.\nCitigroup's stock fell 6.3 percent to $17.67 after hitting\na session low at $17.53, its lowest since October 1998.\nMerrill Lynch's stock dropped 6.8 percent to $33.05.\nBlackBerry maker Research in Motion's U.S.-listed stock\nplummeted 13.3 percent to $123.46 on Nasdaq, a day after it\nforecast weaker-than-expected profit growth.\nShares of Oracle Corp <ORCL.O>, the world's No. 3 software maker, fell 5 percent to $21.42 on Nasdaq, while Nike's shares\nplunged 9.8 percent to $59.50.\nGM dropped 10.8 percent to close at $11.43 on the New York\nStock Exchange, just off a session low at $11.21. The plunge\ndragged down the rest of the auto sector.\nThe price of oil surged after Libya said it was studying\noptions to cut output in response to possible U.S. actions\nagainst producer countries. U.S. crude oil for August delivery\n<CLQ8> settled at a record $139.64 a barrel, up $5.09, or 3.8\npercent, after jumping to a record $140.05 a barrel.\nEconomic data also painted a gloomy picture. The\ngovernment reported that a four-week average of new jobless\nclaims, a measure of underlying labor trends, rose to its\nhighest since October 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane\nKatrina.\nSales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in May and the\nglut of homes for sale shrank, but prices were off sharply\nfrom a year ago, suggesting the housing sector remains a big\nweight on the economy.\nU.S. gross domestic product, which measures total output\nof goods and services within U.S. borders, grew at a 1 percent\nannual pace in the first quarter, matching forecasts.\nTrading was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.54 billion shares changing hands, below last year's\nestimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion, while on\nNasdaq, about 2.30 billion shares traded, above last year's\ndaily average of 2.17 billion.\nDeclining stocks trounced advancing ones by a ratio of\nmore than 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by 4 to 1 on Nasdaq.\n(Editing by Jan Paschal)\n((cal.mankowski@thomsonreuters.com ; 1 646 223 6132; Reuters\nMessaging: cal.mankowski.reuters.com@reuters.net ))\n((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available\nfor: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com *\nBridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top\nNews: http://topnews.reuters.com))\nKeywords: MARKETS STOCKS\nTo access running updates on what's moving U.S. stocks double\nclick on [STXNEWS/US]\nFor other U.S. market data and news, click on codes in\nbrackets:\nU.S. Equities speed guide.US/EQUITY>\nS&P 500 index SPX>\nDow Jones industrial average.DJI>\nNasdaq Composite index.IXIC>\nNasdaq 100.NDX>\nRussell 2000 small cap.RUT>\nS&P major sectors.0#.GSPMAJOR>\nNYSE most active.AV.N>\nNasdaq most active.AV.O>\nTop NYSE pct gainers.PG.N>\nTop NYSE pct losers.PL.N>\nTop Nasdaq pct gainers.PG.O>\nTop Nasdaq pct losers.PL.O>\n52 week highs:\nNYSE.t.YH.N>Nasdaq.t.YH.O>\n52 week lows:\nNYSE.t.YL.N>Nasdaq.t.YL.O>\nMain global stock indexes and market reports:\nFTSE Eurotop 300 .....<.FTEU3>European report EU]\nNikkei 225.N225>Tokyo report.T]\nFTSE 100.FTSE>London report.L]\nXetra DAX.GDAXI>Frankfurt market stories[.F]\nCAC-40.FCHI>Paris market stories...[.PA]\nWorld Indices.0#.INDEX>\nReuters survey of world bourse outlook.EQUITYPOLL1>\nU.S. IPO diary.IPO/]\nU.S. Asset Allocation Table.US/ASSET]\nMore Reuters News on equities at a glance:\nEquities E] US company news.TOP/EQU]\nKey non-equities market reports:\nForeign exchange.FRX/]\nOil.O/R]\nUS Treasuries.US/N]\nInternational bonds.EUB/]\nGold.GOL/X] or [GOL/]\nCRB index of commodity futures.CRB/]