World Markets Reel; Dow Plunges 76.74

Wall Street followed other world stock markets sharply lower today, as fears grew that the Middle East crisis would cause a prolonged steep rise in energy costs.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials plunged 76.74 points to 2,483.41, its lowest close since it stood at 2,462.44 on July 6, 1989.

Declining issues overwhelmed advances by about 10 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Big Board volume totaled 250.44 million shares, up from 175.55 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index fell 5.34 to 168.88.

Overseas stock markets fell steeply on continued worries about a possible war in the Persian Gulf and its effect on world oil supplies.

Tokyo’s major market index, the Nikkei average of 225 stocks, ended the day down 1,473.28 points, or 5.84%--the Nikkei’s fourth largest single-day drop. The index shed 1,086.93 points Wednesday, its ninth largest daily fall.

On London’s Stock Exchange, share prices closed down despite a late afternoon recovery. The Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-share index fell 29.8 points, or 1.4%.

The slide in U.S. stocks picked up momentum late Wednesday as the price of oil surged past $30 a barrel to levels nearly double where it stood at the beginning of the summer.

The showdown in the Middle East that began with Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2 has raised the specter of a wide range of economic problems, including recession and a simultaneous surge in inflationary pressures.

A rapid rise in interest rates threatens to compound the economy’s woes.

Brokers say stock-market investors have been dismayed to find themselves trying to calculate the economic damage from the situation in the Persian Gulf even as the crisis continues to unfold.

In London, the dollar fell to new lows against the German mark and Swiss franc and to a nine-year low against the British pound.

The dollar finished at 1.5478 marks, down from 1.5535 marks late Wednesday. The dollar’s previous lowest close against the mark had been 1.5485 marks set last Friday in Europe. In later dealings in New York, the dollar was quoted in afternoon trading at 1.5545 marks.

Bond prices fell in early trading today, continuing a slide sparked by concern about Mideast turmoil and rising oil prices.