US stocks plunged today as a broker’s downgrade of Dell and higher oil prices aggravated Wall Street’s worries about a shaky start to second-quarter earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average sank more than 121 points.

Wall Street closed lower in profit-taking today after the previous session’s big gain, though the market held on reasonably well despite a surprising drop in consumer confidence and a disappointing forecast from Texas Instruments Inc.

Wall Street bounded higher for the second straight day today as investors revelled in sharply falling oil prices and the pro-business agenda of the second Bush administration.