NEW YORK (AFX) -- U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Tuesday, the final trading session of February, although the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a monthly gain, while heavy sales of Google drove the Nasdaq Composite into the red for the month. The Google rout took place after the company's chief financial officer warned of slowing growth at the Internet company. A number of weak economic reports further undermined sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 104.14 points at 10,993.41 at its unofficial close. The S&P 500 dropped 13.49 points to 1,280.63 and the Nasdaq Composite ended down 25.79 points at 2,280.98. For February, the Dow Jones Industrials rose 1.2%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.1%, and the S&P 500 managed a fractional gain of 0.04%. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.
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