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US market indices fall

26 February 2009 08:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev - APA-Economics. Wall Street ended a choppy session with a loss, but showed its resilience as investors heard answers to some of their big questions about banks, AP reports. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow ended down 80.05, or 1.09 percent, to 7,270.89. The index tumbled by as many as 194 points in early trading, rebounded to trade 54 points above Tuesday’s close, and then retreated again.
Broader stock indicators also recovered from earlier lows but finished down. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 8.24, or 1.07 percent, to 764.90, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 16.40, or 1.14 percent, to 1,425.43.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 11.04, or 2.68 percent, to 401.44.
Declining issues narrowly outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.22 billion shares.
The S&P 500 index’s ability to hold above its November lows despite the market’s severe volatility this week shows the potential for a stock recovery, said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. "We really just need more clarity."
Among tech stocks, IBM Corp. fell 50 cents to $85.90. Microsoft Corp. shed 21 cents to $16.96, and Yahoo Inc. fell 27 cents, or 2 percent, to $12.48.
Government bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.94 percent from 2.80 percent late Tuesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.30 percent from 0.29 percent.
The dollar rose against other major currencies, and gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude rose $2.54 to settle at $42.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.85 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 1.27 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.41 percent. Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 2.65 percent.