Around the World's Markets: New York

US STOCKS tumbled, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average further away from the 10,000 milestone, amid concerns that profits and sales are falling at major corporations such as Coca-Cola and Dell Computer Corp. The Dow fell 218.68 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 9,671.83, its biggest drop since 14 January.

The S&P 500 lost 34.87, or 2.7 per cent, to 1,262.14, the largest decline since 1 October. The Nasdaq index tumbled 73.09, or 3.1 per cent, to 2,322.85.