NEW YORK — Stocks fell Tuesday for a fourth day after another disappointing report on housing deepened worries that the economic recovery could be fading. Bond yields fell as investors sought out more stable investments.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 134 points following news that home resales fell last month to their slowest pace in 15 years. The 27 percent drop in home resales from the previous month was the biggest since record-keeping began in 1968.
The Dow dipped briefly below 10,000 for the first time in seven weeks and has lost 375 points since its four-day slump began.
The yield on the two-year Treasury note reached another record low as cautious investors piled back into the bond market.
The National Association of Realtors said sales of previously occupied homes plunged in July to an annual rate of 3.83 million, much worse than the 4.7 million estimate from economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Other world markets also fell. Japanese stocks led the way lower, falling more than 1 percent as the yen hit a fresh 15-year high against the dollar.
Japan’s economy relies heavily on exports, so a stronger yen hurts the profits of major Japanese companies.
Stocks have been sliding in recent days as investors focus on signs that economic growth is slowing. A new wave of corporate dealmaking gave stocks a temporary boost Monday, but those gains quickly faded.
The Dow fell 133.96, or 1.3 percent, to close at 10,040.45. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 15.49, or 1.5 percent, to 1,051.87, while the Nasdaq composite fell 35.87, or 1.7 percent, to 2,123.76.
Three stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume was very light, at 4.5 billion shares, up from 3.3 billion shares the day before.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite to its price, fell to 2.5 percent from 2.6 percent late Monday. That yield helps set interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans.
The 10-year note’s yield continues to hover around levels not reached since March 2009, when the stock market hit a 12-year low and investors were concerned about the deepening recession. The yield on the two-year note went as low as 0.46 percent.
Stock traders are “taking their cues from the bond market,” said Lawrence Glazer, a managing partner at Mayflower Advisors.
“It really has been a dramatic and frightening shift” in Treasury prices, which has spooked investors and led to worries about another recession, Glazer said.
