Front Page || Main Index || Corpus Christi News || Business || Texas || Sports || Entertainment || Selena
Saturday, Aug. 1, 1998
Selling frenzy dashes hopes of calm in market
Dow industrials fell almost 200 points Friday, the third time in 10 sessions for such a freefall
By BRUCE MEYERSON
Associated PressNEW YORK - A pre-weekend selling frenzy cut short another rebound Friday, pushing the Dow industrials into a nearly 200-point freefall and dashing hopes for calm after two weeks of convulsions in the stock market.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished 143.66 points lower at 8,883.29 after falling as much as 198.76 points during the final hour.
``It was as if the bottom fell out. The market washed out completely,'' said Brian Belski, market analyst at Dougherty Summit Securities in Minneapolis. ``It probably will create anxiety over the weekend and increase the stronghold of bearish opinions out there.''
Broad-market indicators also gave back Thursday's gains, making it the second time this week that a would-be recovery unraveled after one session.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 22.28 to 1,120.67, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 47.19 to 1,872.39.
The Dow, which now sits about 455 points below the record 9,337.97, set July 17, rallied 90 points Monday and 112 points Thursday only to give back those gains the next day.
Friday's selloff also marked the third time in 10 sessions that the Dow fell into a sudden tailspin of about 200 points. But, further demonstrating what a back-and-forth struggle it's been, the Dow's loss for the week was just 54.07.
After rallying for more than a month, the market has fallen prey to fears of slower growth - or even a recession - in the economy and company profits.
``The market over the past two weeks has swung full pendulum,'' Belski said. ``Although the market remains in an oversold state, the trend is definitely in the bear's favor for the near term.''
Notably, the Commerce Department reported early Friday that the nation's production of goods and services slowed sharply during the second quarter as Asia's fiscal troubles continued to squeeze American exporters and the General Motors strikes rippled through the domestic economy.
The gross domestic product - the sum of goods and services produced within U.S. borders - increased at a modest 1.4 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, down from a sizzling 5.5 percent during the first three months of 1998.
But the data wasn't nearly as bad as many analysts had feared, thanks to continued strength in business and consumer spending. Some had thought the economy's output actually had decreased for the first time since the 1990-91 recession.
Procter & Gamble fell 4 1/4 to 79 as the Dow's biggest decliner for the second straight day after issuing a cautious outlook for the second half of 1998.
Bellwether technology shares posted heavy losses after leading Thursday's rally: Dell Computer fell 4 5/32 to 108 19/32, Microsoft fell 3 1/2 to 109 15/16, and Intel fell 3 3/16 to 84 7/16 in heavy Nasdaq trading.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by nearly a 3-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where composite volume totaled 763.70 million shares, down from Thursday's 811.01 million.
The NYSE composite index fell 9.99 to 565.27, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 7.21 to 706.26.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 9.75 to 419.75.
Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average rose 1.1 percent, Frankfurt's DAX index rose 0.5 percent, and London's FT-SE 100 fell 1.2 percent.Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web