Apple contributed the most to the Nasdaq's decline.Investors also pulled cash out of the financial sector, which has helped lead the recent rally, in favor of more defensive plays, such as drugmakers.Dow components Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) added 2.8 percent to $25.67, while Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) climbed 2.3 percent to $15.27. The S&P retail index .RLX fell 3.3 percent.In more bad news for the retail sector, department-store operator Macy's Inc (M.N) said it expects sales to fall this year as consumers tighten their belts, while Liz Claiborne Inc (LIZ.N) reported a worse-than-expected loss.Shares of Macy's slid 6.7 percent to $11.52 and Liz Claiborne plummeted 26.2 percent to $4.26.Shares of big manufacturers also got hurt, with 3M Co (MMM.N) down 4.4 percent at $56.94 and United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) off 3.5 percent at $50.61.The NYSE-listed companies ranked among the top drags on the Dow industrials.Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the iPod and iPhone maker and yet another company dependent on consumers opening their wallets, was off 4 percent at $119.49 on Nasdaq. If it doesn't, that's going to panic a lot of guys who got in late."TIGHTER BELTS BRUISE RETAILERSShares of Wal-Mart (WMT.N), the world's biggest retailer and a bellwether for the sector, fell 1.2 percent to $50.03, while Target lost 4.8 percent to $40.47. The index remains up nearly 31 percent from the bear market low hit in early March, but it was the third straight day of declines for the S&P, making it the longest slump since the rally's onset.The S&P is off 5 percent from last Friday's recovery peak.Wednesday's sell-off caused the S&P 500 to breach some key technical support, ending below 900 for the first time in over a week."We are coming into a good support area in the S&P 500 on 870 to 875, which was the last breakout before the move to 930," said Elliot Spar, market strategist with Stifel Nicolaus & Co in Shrewsbury, New Jersey."I think on Thursday, it will try and make a stand there.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX lost 24.43 points, or 2.69 percent, to 883.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gave up 51.73 points, or 3.01 percent, to 1,664.19.S&P'S SLIDE BELOW 900The session was a stumbling block for the market after an impressive run-up that has driven the S&P 500 sharply higher. Retailers fell, led by a nearly 5 percent drop in Target (TGT.N), while manufacturers, home builders and commodity companies stumbled.Retail activity is a closely followed indicator, as consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the U.S economy. Analysts had forecast no change or even a small increase in retail sales, excluding autos."You want to see the consumer be a strong part of the recovery and if retail sales lag, that calls into question whether we're in a recovery yet and how sustainable that recovery is going to be," said Richard Sparks, senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 184.22 points, or 2.18 percent, to 8,284.89. Hot StocksSales at retailers fell for a second straight month in April, breaking a string of more upbeat reports that had suggested the economic slump was abating and fueling a two-month rally.Investors sold off shares across the board.

CampExecutive Vice President and Chief Financial OfficerDirect Dial: Business Wire 2009. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled on Wednesday as a gloomy retail sales report revived recent anxiety about the economy's struggle and caused a broad sell-off that accelerated late in the session. We assume noobligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untruebecause of subsequent events.Washington Real Estate Investment TrustWilliam T. WRIT sharesare publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:WRE).

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" withinthe meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Suchstatements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factorsthat may cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks, uncertaintiesand other factors include, but are not limited to, the effect of the currentcredit and financial market conditions, the availability and cost of capital,fluctuations in interest rates, tenants' financial conditions, the timing andpricing of lease transactions, levels of competition, the effect of governmentregulation, the impact of newly adopted accounting principles, changes ingeneral and local economic and real estate market conditions, and other risksand uncertainties detailed from time to time in our filings with the SEC,including our 2008 Form 10-K and our first quarter 2009 10-Q. (Reporting by Caryn Trokie; Editing by Dan Grebler) Stocks Bonds IPOs.

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(Business Wire)--Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT) (NYSE:WRE) has completed the saleof Avondale Apartments for $19.75 million. The 237-unit Class B property,located in Laurel, Maryland, was acquired in 1999. WRIT achieved a net book gain of $7 million on the sale of the property and an11% unlevered internal rate of return during the ownership period. Drew Whiteand Mike Marshall of Cushman and Wakefield represented WRIT in the transaction. WRIT is a self-administered, self-managed, equity real estate investment trustinvesting in income-producing properties in the greater Washington metro region.WRIT owns a diversified portfolio of 92 properties consisting of 28 officeproperties, 22 industrial/flex properties, 17 medical office properties, 14retail centers, 11 multi-family properties and land for development.