Wall St report: Weds mid-session

BULLS went into hibernation after some big name companies issued chilling reports on their profit outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which dropped 172 points on Tuesday after

JP MorganChase, America's second biggest bank, became the latest company to warn that its numbers were falling short of expectations. Morgan, which has been hit by the collapse of Enron, troubled loans to Argentina and the telecoms meltdown, said its current quarter would fall 'well below' second quarter results. Its shares plunged $2.45 or 11.4% to $19.10, bringing its loss in market value this year to 50% or roughly $40bn. The rest of the financial services sector came down in sympathy as rating services warned that more bad news might be on the way. Citigroup dropped $1.17 or 4% to $28.63.

McDonald's, which hit seven-year lows on Tuesday, slumped another 67 cents or 3.5% to $18.24. Oracle, second only to Microsoft among software makers, tumbled $1.02 or 11.3% to $8.01 after it issued a bleak update on its business. Other techs feeling woozy included IBM, off $2.48 or 3.5% to $69.27, and Intel, lower by 42 cents or 2.7% to $15.15.

A decision by a controlling trust to withdraw chocolate maker Hershey from the auction block sent its shares down $9.63 or 13% to $64.18. The sale, which had stoked much local protest on fears it would result in job losses, had attracted the likes of Cadbury Schweppes, Nestle and William Wrigley, the chewing gum maker.

Media shares were hit by a negative call on CBS and MTV network owner Viacom from Merrill Lynch. Viacom shares slid $1.85 or 4.4% to $39.85. Walt Disney came off 49 cents or 3% to $15.49 and News Corp.'s US shares retreated 50 cents or 2.3% to $21.05.

Another downbeat report on the airline sector helped send shares in American Airline's parent company AMR diving 88 cents or 13.3% to $5.72. Industrial shares generally were on the defensive with aluminium maker Alcoa lower by 91 cents or 4.2% to $20.61 and heavy equipment maker Caterpillar down $1.31 or 3.3% to $38.14.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris stood out with a gain of 85 cents or 1.8% to $47.35.