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VOL. 37 | NO. 49 | Friday, December 6, 2013
Stocks slump following disappointing earnings
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling on Wall Steet as traders react to disappointing earnings from U.S. companies.
Health care stocks had some of the biggest declines. Laboratory Corporation of America slumped after cutting its full-year earnings forecast. Quest Diagnostics, a major competitor, also dropped.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 129 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 15,843 Wednesday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 20 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,782. The index is down 1.3 percent this month, but it's still up 25 percent this year.
The Nasdaq composite fell 56 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,003.
MasterCard rose 4 percent after announcing a stock split, a dividend increase and a stock buyback program.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.84 percent from 2.80 percent.