Earnings Push Stocks Lower

Stocks fell today as a wave of poor earnings soured investor confidence across the board, though the continued drop in interbank lending rates kept losses in check, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow closed down 231.77 at 9,033.66. The Nasdaq fell 73.35 to 1,696.68, while the S&P 500 slipped 30.35 to settle at 955.05.

Reports that China’s GDP growth has fallen below 10% made it seem unlikely that the country’s booming economy would buffer the global financial crisis. Citigroup, meanwhile, dropped 6.1% after Goldman downgraded its stock to “sell.” Chevron and Exxon Mobil marked declines as oil futures dropped $3.36 to $70.89. American Express was a lonely bright spot, rising 8.3% after reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss. (More Dow Jones stories.)