Stocks Hit by Al Qaeda Fears After Attack

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday as deadly bomb blasts struck Madrid and fears that Osama bin Laden’s militant Islamist al Qaeda was responsible and may be planning a big attack on America drove investors from the market. The Dow logged its largest percentage drop since May, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq ended down more than 1 percent, notching its fifth day of losses. Most of the losses occurred in the final hour after a letter purporting to come from al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the train bombings in Spain and warned of an attack on the United States. The letter, received by a London-based Arabic newspaper, will likely trigger more losses in Friday’s trading, traders said. “It has a definite economic impact, so I don’t think the market can easily shrug it off, given the cost that these type of events have on consumer sentiment, on psychologies, on economies,” said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of U.S. equity group, Deutsche Bank Private Banking. Full Story