NEW YORK — A warning from tech giant Intel about poor business conditions and more evidence of rising unemployment left stocks with their biggest losses in a month Wednesday.
The news upended some investors’ hopes for a speedy economic recovery this year and sent the major stock indexes down more than 2.7 percent, including the Dow Jones industrials, which lost 245 points.
Intel’s second warning since November, as well as bleak outlooks from aluminum producer Alcoa and media-industry bellwether Time Warner, underscored the breadth of the economy’s slowdown. In addition, the ADP National Employment Report said private-sector jobs fell by a greater-than-expected 693,000 in December. That made investors nervous ahead of Friday’s employment report from the government.
But unlike the panicked declines seen last fall, Wednesday’s pullback was more orderly. Some retrenchment had been expected following sharp gains in recent sessions and a 24.2 percent rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index since Nov. 20 before Wednesday’s slide.
“Nothing goes straight up or straight down,” said Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services. “You do have some people who get skittish and start taking some profits, but I don’t think the uptrend has been broken here.”
The concerns sent the Dow down 245.40, or 2.72 percent, to 8,769.70, its biggest point and percentage decline since Dec. 1.
Broader stock indicators also tumbled. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 28.05, or 3 percent, to 906.65. It was the biggest drop for the index since Dec. 1. The Nasdaq composite index fell 53.32, or 3.23 percent, to 1,599.06, hit by the decline in Intel shares.
Asian stock markets fell sharply today, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Hong Kong tumbling more than 3 percent. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 315.78, or 3.4 percent, to 8,923.46, snapping a seven-day winning streak as the yen traded higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 535.94 points, or 3.6 percent, to 14,451.52.
South Korea’s Kospi shed 2.6 percent.
