Dow slide continues; index falls below 11,000

Published Thursday, June 8, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks dropped again yesterday, extending investors’ losses for the third straight session and pushing the Dow Jones industrial average below 11,000 for the first time since March 9.

The Dow has shed more than 316 points this week; the sell-off has also wiped out the Nasdaq composite index’s gains for the year and put the Standard & Poor’s 500 index less than 8 points away from its Dec. 31 close.

With little economic data or corporate news to move stocks, traders were left to decide whether the week’s tumble was a buying opportunity or a harbinger of worse days ahead. Stocks spent much the day higher, but the advance-decline line was narrow and the market turned negative in late afternoon.

Volume was light, as it has been all week, which some investors say is a sign of more losses to come.

Declining issues led advancers by roughly 9-to-7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Preliminary consolidated volume was 2.68 billion, down from 2.75 billion the previous session.

Treasury bonds fell, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising to 5.02 percent from 5.01 percent late Tuesday. The U.S. dollar was up against other major currencies.