U.S. Stocks Plunge Nearly Three Hundred Points
A Caterpillar Inc. dump truck carries excavated soil from a conveyor transporting soil for elevating the city's ground level in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, on Jan. 17, 2015.
Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergU.S. stocks tumbled, with the Nasdaq 100 Index falling the most since April, as a drop in durable-goods orders and disappointing results from Caterpillar Inc. to Microsoft Corp. heightened concern about the economy’s strength.
Technology shares in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plunged 3.3 percent for the biggest drop since November 2011. Microsoft lost 9.3 percent, the most in 18 months, as software-license sales to businesses were below forecasts. Caterpillar plunged 7.2 percent after forecasting 2015 results that trailed estimates as plunging oil prices signal lower demand from energy companies. Procter & Gamble Co. slid 3.5 percent as a surging U.S. dollar cut into its earnings.