2010-08-12 04:30

Traders, including Peter Kosanovich, work in the Euro Dollar pit at the CME Group in Chicago, August 10, 2010. [Agencies]

NEW YORK -- Stocks and interest rates are down sharply as investors take a bleaker view of the US economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average has had its biggest loss in six weeks and all the major indexes are down than 2 percent. And the yield on the Treasury's 10-year note has fallen to its lowest level since March 2009 as investors seek the safety of government securities.

Investors' gloom has deepened a day after the Federal Reserve said it would begin buying government bonds as a way to stimulate the economy. Analysts say there is so much uncertainty about the economy that many investors question whether the Fed's move will have an impact on the weakeningrecovery.

The Dow is down 265 at 10,378. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 31 at 1,089, and the Nasdaq composite index is down 68 at 2,208.

Only 442 stocks rose on the New York Stock Exchange as 2,627 fell. Volume came to almost 1.2 billion shares.