Western Wireless Corp plunged US$2.33 to US$3.35 after the provider of mobile-telephone service in 19 western US states said its first-quarter loss widened as US sales fell.
Microsoft lost US$2.07 to US$50.05. The Financial Times said the software maker faces sterner measures than in the US to address antitrust concerns of European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti.
All 17 members of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped as the benchmark declined 4.5 percent. Chip-equipment maker KLA-Tencor Corp lost US$3.10 to US$54.40, while Novellus Systems Inc fell US$2.72 to US$46.30. Intel, the largest chipmaker, fell US$1.23 to US$27.01.
Financial companies slumped after Standard & Poor's cut Credit Suisse Group's credit rating on concern about the company's high costs and limited profit growth.
Citigroup Inc fell US$1.03 to US$43.30 and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co dropped US$1.53 to US$46.97. JP Morgan Chase & Co fell US$0.69 to US$35.08 and Merrill Lynch & Co declined US$1.38 to US$41.53.
Reliant Resources Inc tumbled US$2.49 to US$12 after saying it may have inflated trading volume by selling and instantly repurchasing electricity. The biggest power company in Texas canceled a US$500 million bond sale because it did not disclose trades that may have boosted the size of its business.
US Airways Group Inc declined US$1.35 to US$3.60, leading airlines lower, after the seventh-largest US carrier said it may seek bankruptcy protection unless the company receives financing backed by a federal loan guarantee. United Airlines parent UAL Corp slumped US$2 to US$9.50 and Boeing Co, the largest planemaker, slipped US$1.35 to US$43.63.
While stocks may languish in coming weeks, now may be a good time to buy, some investors said.
"The haze is going to clear over the next couple of months, and the recovery will appear fairly firm by the third or fourth quarter," said Bill Knapp, head of global investment strategy at Citigroup Asset Management, which manages US$455 billion.
Knapp recommends diversified financial shares and industrial companies as most likely to gain in coming months. With the S&P 500 down 9 percent since mid-March, "it's probably a moderately undervalued market right now."
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