Nasdaq Index Plunges to Six-year Low

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Nasdaq Index Plunges to Six-year Low

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Wall Street stocks ended sharply lower Monday, with the Nasdaq composite falling to the lowest level in six years, amid investors' selling triggered by a third-month decline in US leading economic index, an revenue warning from JDS Uniphase and concerns about war against Iraq.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 113.87 points, or 1.43percent, to 7,872.15, after falling 43.63 points Friday.

Broader stock indicators were sharply down. The technology heavy Nasdaq composite index plunged 36.16 points, or 2.96 percent,to 1,184.93, the lowest level since September 12,1996. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11.69 points, or 1.38 percent, to833.70.

The Conference Board reported that its index of leading economic indicators fell 0.2 percent to 111.8 in August, the thirdstraight monthly loss, showing a danger that the weak economic recovery would stall. The fall was wider than the 0.1 percent decline analysts expected and the revised 0.1 percent dip in July.

Meanwhile, war tensions intensified after Iraq said that it will not cooperate with any new UN resolution on arms inspections,which raised the possibility for a US military strike against the country.

Investors' sentiment was also hit by news that JDS Uniphase said its sales in the current quarter will be 5 percent below earlier estimates, while Qwest Communications reported that it is restating nearly 1 billion dollars in revenue.

JDS Uniphase fell 25 cents, or 12 percent, to 1.89 dollars, Lucent Technologies lost 6 cents to 99 cents, Nextel Communications dipped 25 cents to 7.19 dollars, Microsoft skid 2.22 dollars to 45.24 dollars, Oracle declined 35 cents to 7.64 dollars, and Intel slipped 77 cents to 14.13 dollars..

Among the blue chips, El Paso tumbled 4.16 dollars, or 36 percent, to 7.51 dollars after a federal regulatory judge ruled that the energy company had cut back on California's natural gas supplies during the state's 2000-2001 energy crisis, helping to push power prices sharply higher.

The retailers were generally lower. Wal-Mart sank 1.95 dollars to 52.75 dollars after the discounter said September same-store sales will likely come in at the low end of its estimates of a 4 to 6 percent increase, while Home Depot eased 1.35 dollars to 29.88 dollars.

The NYSE index closed down 5.19 points at 453.78, the American Stock Exchange index sank 9.60 points to 831.54, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies tumbled 8.60 points to 358.68.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 926 up, 2,336 down and 167 unchanged.

NYSE trading volume decreased to 1.36 billion shares from 1.79 billion in the previous session.

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