Wyeth tumbled US$7.35, or 19 percent, to US$31.10. The company said it will earn as little as US$2.22 a share in 2002, 11 percent below analysts' estimates, after studies linked its best-selling hormone-replacement medicines to cancer and heart disease and the company puts more money aside for lawsuits over withdrawn diet pills.
Among Wyeth's competitors, Pfizer Inc fell US$1.67 to US$28.58, Merck & Co dropped US$2.49 to US$46.26 and Eli Lilly & Co fell US$2.35 to US$55.64.
General Electric shed US$1.92 to US$24.47, contributing the most to the S&P 500's decline, after analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers Inc. discouraged investors from buying the shares.
The world's largest company by market value said yesterday that it will meet third-quarter profit estimates because of gains from a unit sale and a lower tax rate. Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin said improvement in economically sensitive businesses "seems to have stalled."
SBC Communications Inc. lost US$1.75 to US$20.15. The second-biggest US local-phone operator said second-quarter sales declined 5.5 percent. It will cut 11,000 jobs by early 2003, leading to unspecified charges in the third and fourth quarters.
Other phone shares also declined. Verizon Communications Inc lost US$1.57 to US$28.09, and BellSouth Corp slid US$1.59 to US$19.61.
Chubb Corp fell US$5.07 to US$53.91. The business insurer said Weston Hicks, the chief financial officer, quit to run rival Alleghany Corp's investment portfolio. Hicks will be replaced on an interim basis by Michael O'Reilly, the company's executive vice president and chief investment officer.
Delta Air Lines Inc plunged US$2.81 to US$8.69, its lowest close in at least 22 years.
The third-biggest US airline said it will have a loss of about US$350 million this quarter because of lower-than-expected travel demand. The AMEX Airline index dropped 9.7 percent, with all 10 members declining.
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