By Ellis Mnyandu

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks fell for a second straight day on Wednesday as a parade of disappointing profits from bellwethers including aircraft maker Boeing Co increased fears that the global economy might be in the throes of recession.

Investors trimmed their exposure to risk, fueling another leg of a worldwide sell-off that punished Asian markets overnight and drove European indexes down about 5 percent or more.

Boeing, down 6 percent, was among the Dow’s top drags, along with those energy companies, which slid on concern that faltering economic growth would mean less demand for oil.

AT&T, down over 5 percent, posted a quarterly profit below Wall Street’s forecasts as the top U.S. phone carrier grappled with pressure on wireless margins.

“Everybody is concerned about the global recession,” said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams in New York.

He said news indicating that fallout from the global credit crisis was now rattling Hungary and Argentina added to the gloomy tone.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 341.69 points, or 3.78 percent, to 8,691.97. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 36.64 points, or 3.84 percent, to 918.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 40.44 points, or 2.38 percent, to 1,656.24.

Of the Dow’s 30 components, only McDonald’s was trading higher — up 0.2 percent, or 13 cents, at $55.25 after the world’s largest hamburger chain posted a quarterly profit that topped forecasts.  Continued…