Dow Index Plummets 196 Points

U.S. stocks thudded lower Thursday for the fourth consecutive session, as increasing numbers of investors grew itchy to take profits from a market that had run up practically nonstop for the past six weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 195.93 points, or 2.1 percent, to 8,932.98, for its worst showing in nearly six weeks. Boeing and Sears were the principal losers within the index.

With the second-quarter earnings season reaching its peak earlier in the week, and given uncertainty over profits growth in the second half of the year, some investors erred on the side of caution by taking profits.

"The intermediate-term advance that began off the mid-June lows is very close to ending, if it's not over already," said Gregory Kuhn, head of Kuhn Asset Management Co.

In Thursday's market highlights:

• The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 2.1 percent.
• New York Stock Exchange losers outnumbered winners by 2,358 to 635. New 52-week highs came to 36, while new 52-week lows totaled 227.
• On the Big Board floor, turnover eased 1 percent to 737 million shares.
• The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.8 percent. Declining issues led advancers by better than 2 to 1 in the Nasdaq Stock Market, with 56 new highs and 210 new lows. Volume totaled 859 million shares.
• In the bond market, the 30-year Treasury advanced 11/32, to yield 5.659 percent.
• Boeing lost 6 1/2 to 41 1/4 after posting a 46 percent decline in second-quarter earnings to 26 cents a share.
• AT&T bettered most estimates with its second-quarter results of 91 cents a share, a penny above consensus views, and 60 percent above that of the year-ago period. The stock added 7/8 to 58 5/8.
• Telecommunications powerhouse WorldCom tacked on a point to 55 3/8 after reporting it netted 21 cents a share on an operating basis in the second quarter, up from the 4 cents it earned a year ago.
• Dow component Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing sank 2 1/4 to 78 1/4. The diversified manufacturer recorded a per-share profit of 94 cents in the second quarter, 2 cents better than most projections.
• Sears lost 5 3/8 to 51 3/8. The discount retailer produced operating profits of 80 cents a share in the second quarter, 2 cents better than consensus expectations.
• Amazon.com fell 6 3/8 to 127 5/8. The online book retailer reported a second-quarter pro forma operating loss of 33 cents a share.
• CNET gained 6 1/4 to 70 3/8. The provider of Internet content and television programming earned 2 cents a share in the second quarter, far ahead of analysts' estimates of a 21-cent loss.
• Callaway Golf drove lower, down 6 1/4, or 33 percent, to 12 3/4. The golf club maker reported second-quarter profits of 30 cents a share, 55 percent lower than the 66 cents it earned in the comparable quarter of 1997. The consensus among analysts was 32 cents.
• Biotechnology interest Amgen gained 4 3/4 to 76 3/8 after unveiling second-qarter profits of 72 cents a share. Most analysts had anticipated 73 cents. Revenues grew 8 percent.
• Internet service provider MindSpring Enterprises sprang 8 5/8 higher to 149 after shattering Wall Street earnings estimates. It reported 24 cents a share in the second quarter vs. projections of 18 cents. The stock has tripled in just eight weeks. Wall Street looks for $1.00 a share in 1998 profits, followed by $1.75 in 1999.