Stocks fell this morning as dismal reports on jobless claims, factory orders and automobile sales were released.

As of 9 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 186.78 points to 10,644.29. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which has been hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis, was down 22.81 points to 1,138.25.

The Labor Department said this morning that new applications for unemployment benefits rose to a seven-year high last week in the aftermath of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, the Associated Press reported. Initial claims for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 497,000, up 1,000 from a week ago. It is the highest since just after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Commerce Department data showed that orders to U.S. factories dropped 4 percent in August compared with July, the largest decline since a 4.8 percent plunge in October 2006. The downturn was led by orders for aircraft, which were down 38.1 percent, and automobile orders, which fell by 10.6 percent, the worst performance in nearly six years.

Reports from Autodata Corp. and Edmunds.com showed U.S. auto sales were down 27 percent from September 2007 to 964,871 vehicles. It was the worst month since 1993, as consumers struggle to get financing and cut back on big purchases.

General Motors Corp. said it sold 16 percent fewer vehicles than it did a year earlier, which was better than the decreases reported by other major automakers. Ford Motor Co.’s sales dropped 34 percent and Honda Motor Co., which was one of the few automakers to post sales gains through August, reported a 24 percent decline in sales in September.

These reports heightened concern that some companies could struggle to secure financing. After getting a $3 billion investment from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. yesterday, General Electric Co.’s stock price fell 8 percent this morning after reports indicated that the company may sell $12 billion in shares for less than yesterday’s closing price, Bloomberg reported. After Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. said farm companies could be hurt by waning demand, Monsanto Co. fell 17 percent, its biggest intraday loss in five years. Deere & Co. was down 8.5 percent this morning.