HEWLETT-PACKARD, the world’s largest printer maker and the No 2 seller of personal computers, said third-quarter profits fell 88% after expenses from bringing earnings back from overseas and firing workers.

End-of-quarter selling and growing uneasiness about the US economy sent stocks sliding on Wall Street today, with Caterpillar and other industrials depressing blue chips and technology issues dragging the Nasdaq composite index to a five-month low.