August 25, 2010
Stocks opened lower for a fifth straight day Wednesday as disappointing reports on new home sales and durable-goods orders stoked worries about the economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 20 points, or 0.2 percent in late-morning trading, reclaming 10,000. Earlier, the blue-chip index had fallen below that level.
This came after a four-day losing streak in which the Dow lost a total of 3.6 percent.
Most of the 30 Dow components were lower at the start, led by Caterpillar, Disney and Boeing. Merck and Microsoft were among the gainers.
New-home sales dropped 12.4 percent to a 276,000 annual rate in July after a 12.1-percent increase in June.
This followed a dismal housing report on Tuesday that showed existing-home sales fell 27.2 percent last month to their lowest pace in 15 years.
