NEW YORK ? US stocks followed global markets lower Thursday on renewed jitters about the pace of economic recovery and a downgrade of key American firms in the technology sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 93.87 points (0.90 percent) to end at 10,332.44, in a second consecutive losing session.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 36.32 points (1.66 percent) to 2,156.82 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 14.90 points (1.34 percent) to 1,094.90.
Wall Street opened with the main European and Asian markets showing losses, after a forecast from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development of a "modest" rebound from the global economic slump and leading economies facing a dilemma over huge debt and rescue spending.
"Sentiment has soured around the globe," said Michael Bratus at Moody's Economy.com.
Camilla Sutton at Scotia Capital said the OECD report was viewed in a negative context because it noted "that there are strong headwinds that will leave unemployment levels high and inflation well contained for some time."
Joseph Hargett at Schaeffer's Investment Research said the technology sector was facing pressure after a brokerage downgrade of key firms in the sector.
"The bull rally is apparently beginning to wane on Wall Street, and traders appear ready to take some profits off the table," he said.
He said Bank of America Merrill Lynch's downgrade of eight microchip companies, including Intel and Texas Instruments, was based on "concerns that inventories are too high unless there's a sharp upturn from the global economy."
Gregory Drahuschak at Janney Montgomery Scott said that the market "opened lower and took another step down following the report on mortgage delinquencies."
He said the market reacted to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association showing the seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to 9.64 percent.
Among key stocks, Intel slumped 4.08 percent to $19.30 on the latest broker comments, while rival semiconductor firm Texas Instruments skidded 3.38 percent to $24.88.
Investment fund Blackstone shed 1.74 percent to $15.28 after a company its controls, Pinnacle Foods Group, agreed to buy Birds Eye Foods, the largest US frozen food company, for $1.3 billion.
Time Warner fell 1.58 percent to $32.30 after providing details on its spinoff of its AOL Internet division, including plans to cut about one-third of its workforce.
The caution on equities helped bonds. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 3.349 percent from 3.366 percent on Wednesday and that on the 30-year bond dipped to 4.288 percent from 4.299 percent. Bond yield and prices move in opposite directions.
