Bloomberg U.S. Stocks Drop as S&P 500 Has Biggest Decline Since August; Ford Falls

U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index sinking the most since August, after declines in Ford Motor Co. and Amazon.com Inc. and intensifying unrest in Egypt overshadowed an acceleration in American economic growth.

Ford plunged 13 percent as the automaker said profit slid 79 percent. Amazon declined 7.2 percent after saying earnings may miss analysts’ projections. Microsoft Corp. had the biggest drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, retreating 3.9 percent, after a shortfall in Windows revenue raised concerns about future demand. The NYSE Arca Airline Index lost 4.3 percent as oil jumped the most since September 2009.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index decreased 1.8 percent, the most since Aug. 11, to 1,276.34 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow declined 166.13 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,823.70, preventing the index from completing its longest stretch of weekly gains since 1995. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of insurance against losses in stocks, jumped 24 percent after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak imposed a nationwide curfew following a day of protests aimed at undermining his 30-year rule.

“Investors are looking for safety,” said Jack Ablin, who helps manage $55 billion as chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. “There’s a cloud of uncertainty out there. The unrest in Egypt makes the picture look pretty scary,” he said. “In the U.S., Ford and Amazon’s numbers are a big drag today. The stock market has had a nice run-up and stocks look fairly valued.”    moe ...