Dow plummets over 330 points on global fears – New York Report
THE DOW Jones industrial average yesterday plunged 334 points as falling energy stocks and worries about the global economy sent investors fleeing from the market. The blue-chip index rose 275 points the day before.
By the end of the day, the Dow had lost 334.97 points, or two per cent, to 16,659.25. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 40.68 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 1,928.21 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 90.26 points, or two per cent, to 4,378.34.
Gap dropped or 13 per cent, to $36.67. The clothing chain’s chief executive Glenn Murphy announced that he would step down in February.
Advanced Micro Devices, better known as AMD, dropped 10 per cent, to $2.95. The chipmaker also announced a change in leadership, saying chief executive and president Rory Read was stepping down. AMD has long struggled to keep its market share of the PC chip market against its main competitor, Intel.
On the Nasdaq, the largest percentage gainer was Apple, up just 0.2 per cent to $101.02, while the largest percentage faller was VimpelCom, down 5.94 per cent at $6.02.
Among the most active on the NYSE were Bank of America, down 3.10 per cent to $16.59 and Petrobras, up 1.57 per cent to $16.77.
Share prices for nearly all of the major media companies took a hit, despite the fact that stocks had surged on the interest rate news and lower domestic jobless numbers.