The New York equities markets were down at midday on Tuesday as Google issued a warning on slowing growth that hurt not only that company’s shares but those of other internet companies as well.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 0.8 percent at mid-session to 11,005.26, while the Nasdaq Composite had declined by 1.1 percent to 2,282.77 and the S&P 500 was down 1 percent to 1,1281.79.
Google’s chief financial officer said at an investor conference in New York that the company’s growth is slowing down. This, along with a fourth-quarter earnings report earlier in the month that was less than spectacular has sent Google’s shares down 16.8 percent since February 1. At midday, Google’s loss on the day amounted to 7.8 percent as shares traded at $359.87. Elsewhere in the sector, eBay was down 3.3 percent to $39.93 and Yahoo declined by 2.2 percent to $32.02.
Other losers included hospital supply company Hospira, which was down 16.1 percent to $39.48 on a report that it had recorded a 46 percent drop in earnings in the fourth quarter because of declining sales. Also down was for-profit education company Apollo Group, which lost 14 percent to $50.27 on a suspension of its 2006 outlook.
Staples, the office supplies retailer, was up 5.6 percent to $24.35 on a 15 percent gain in fourth-quarter net profits.