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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stocks tumbled anew Wednesday, with disappointing sales from Apple and revived worries about inflation and interest rates pushing the major gauges to five-month lows.
As of 6:00 p.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a flat open for stocks Thursday, when fair value is taken into account.
On Wednesday, the Nasdaq composite (down 23.62 to 2,037.47, Charts) lost 1.2 percent, falling to its lowest level in nearly five months.
The Dow Jones industrial average (down 36.26 to 10,216.91, Charts) lost around 0.4 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 (down 7.19 to 1,177.68, Charts) index lost 0.6 percent, both falling to five-month lows.
Treasury prices slipped, boosting the corresponding yields. The dollar fell versus other major currencies.
Apple (down $2.34 to $49.25, Research) late Tuesday reported that earnings quadrupled in the latest quarter but sales missed Wall Street forecasts, as did quarterly iPod shipments. The company also boosted its fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue forecast but investors focused on the negative and sent Apple shares down 4.5 percent.
Investors also opted to cash out of Advanced Micro Devices (down $3.00 to $21.00, Research), even after the chipmaker reported quarterly earnings and revenue late Tuesday that rose from a year earlier and topped estimates. Analysts say the declines may reflect investor worries that AMD's recent growth is unsustainable.
AMD shares slumped more than 12 percent.
Investors cashed out of a broad variety of tech stocks following the news.
"Obviously, the market was disappointed in Apple and AMD; and you also have to realize that Mr. Greenspan has been reiterating his stance on inflation and the need to stay ahead of the inflation curve," said Peter Cardillo, chief market analyst at SW Bach & Co.
Stocks have been under heavy pressure for over a week on a mix of worries about inflation and higher energy prices. On Tuesday, the tech sector felt the brunt of that pressure, with the Nasdaq falling nearly 1 percent.
"It's been a difficult week or two for the stock market," said Robert Philips, president of money manager Walnut Asset Management. "It seems like as soon as we get past one thing, we have another. Overall, it seems the confluence of negative news is making people jittery."
Cardillo agreed, adding that after this week's slew of economic reports, including the closely watched consumer price index, the market would likely try to stabilize.
Thursday is not expected to bring any market-moving earnings. However, economic reads are due on weekly jobless claims and weekly oil inventories.
Market movers
Refco (down $3.00 to $10.85, Research) slumped for a third session amid the ongoing fallout from the accounting scandal that caused the commodities broker to remove its CEO Monday. In the latest development, federal prosecutors have charged the former CEO with securities fraud.
Intel (down $0.18 to $23.24, Research) fell around one percent after Prudential cut it to "underweight" from "neutral weight" as part of a broader, bearish note on the chip sector.
Among other tech decliners, Internet shares were hit hard, led by Amazon.com and eBay.
In other news, internet leader Google (down $5.13 to $300.97, Research) and Comcast (down $0.40 to $27.92, Research) are reportedly in talks to buy a minority stake in Time Warner's America Online. (Time Warner is the parent of CNN/Money).
Rising oil prices also took their toll on equity markets. U.S. light crude oil for November delivery rose 59 cents to $64.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Nonetheless, oil stocks continued to consolidate, as they have over the last week. The Amex Oil (down $0.46 to $58.94, Research) index lost 2.1 percent.
But a handful of oil stocks were trading down despite the 3 percent gain in oil prices since the start of the week.
On the upside, Pfizer (up $0.54 to $24.84, Research) gained 2.2 percent after a British court on Wednesday upheld the basic patent on the drugmaker's hit cholesterol treatment Lipitor, preventing an early generic version.
While Britain only represents a small portion of Lipitor sales, the decision was seen as an encouraging sign for Pfizer, Reuters said, in that the company is in the midst of similar suits regarding Lipitor in the United States.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners by four to one on volume of 1.7 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by three to one on volume of 1.85 billion shares.
Treasury prices fell, raising the 10-year note yield to 4.44 percent from 4.38 percent late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The dollar edged lower versus the euro and yen.
COMEX gold fell $3.20 to settle at $476.60 an ounce.
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