FINANCIAL MARKETS : Dow Falls 17.01, Ends Week Down 92.42
The stock market capped off a weeklong run of losses with another broad decline Friday amid worries over the economy and weakness in corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials fell 17.01 to 2,596.72, extending its loss for the week to 92.42 points.
Declining issues outnumbered advances by more than 5 to 2 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks
Big Board volume was 170.33 million shares, against 175.24 million in the previous session.
Analysts said a series of unpleasant surprises in companies’ earnings reports for the third quarter raised concerns that have continued to weigh down the market.
Shares closed lower in Tokyo in very heavy turnover after profit taking in large-capital domestic shares. The 225-share Nikkei index sank 151.20 points to 35,527.29, cutting Thursday’s 236.09-point gain.
Share prices also closed sharply lower in active trading in London, depressed by Chancellor Nigel Lawson’s resignation and a rapid selloff on Wall Street. The Financial Times 100-share index shed 47.3 points, or 2.2%, to close at 2,082.1.
Credit
Bond prices sagged under the weight of a heavy supply of recently auctioned issues and a falling dollar.
The Treasury’s benchmark 30-year bond fell 19/32 point, or $5.94 per $1,000 in face value. Its yield, which rises when prices fall, climbed to 7.93% from 7.88% late Thursday.
The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, was quoted late in the day at 8.688%, down from 8.75% late Thursday.
Currency
The dollar weakened substantially against all major currencies except the British pound, undermined by another poor session in the U.S. stock market and expectations of lower interest rates.
Sterling stayed stuck in the slump it lapsed into when the British government’s top finance official abruptly quit on Thursday.
The dollar ended near its lowest levels of the day. Currency dealers said selling motivated by internal market factors accentuated the weakness.
But much of the impetus to unload dollars came from the stock market’s retreat.
The British pound, jarred by the resignation of Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson on Thursday, finished the London trading day at $1.5750, substantially lower than $1.6130 the day before.
