US stocks fall sharply on 25th anniversary of Black Monday

US stocks suffered their worst day in four months after a string of disappointing corporate earnings results.

Today being the 25th anniversary of the 1987 stock market crash, investors probably felt a little nervous as they watched their trading screens turn to red from the opening bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial fell more than 200 points to close at 13,343.51, its worst day since June 21, USA Today reported.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended 24.15 points, or 1.7 percent, lower at 1,433.19, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the day 67.25 points, or 2.2 percent, lower at 3005.62.

According to the Associated Press, four stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

The culprits for the sharp falls were McDonald’s, Chipotle Mexican Grill, General Electric, Microsoft and Google after their earnings and/or guidance came up short.

"Going into the earnings season, traders were more forgiving of a weaker period, but the forward guidance is killing us now," said Todd Schoenberger, managing principal at the BlackBay Group in New York, told Reuters.

"McDonald's, Chipotle, Coca-Cola have all been slammed. And Wal-Mart, Target, even Dollar Stores are getting hit. That's tough to stomach because across income levels, everything is sharply lower."

The Wall Street Journal reported the S&P was on track to record the first “year-over-year decline in earnings since 2009.”

“The 116 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results so far have posted, on aggregate, a 3.7% drop in earnings,” the WSJ said.

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