Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Dow Jones industrial average tumbled to its lowest close in more than six years today as sharp declines in key financial shares led the market lower.
The blue chips closed at their lowest level since Oct. 9, 2002, the last bear-market low.
The Dow lost 89.68 points, or 1.2 percent, to end at 7,465.95.
Broader indexes also fell. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended down 9.48, or 1.2 percent, to 778.94, but finished above its Nov. 20 low of 752.44.
The technology-heavy NASDAQ composite index suffered the biggest hit today after Hewlett Packard Co. tumbled 7.9 percent after posting worrisome results. The NASDAQ fell 25.15, or 1.71 percent, to 1,442.82.
The market’s inability to rally signals that investors see no immediate end for the recession, which is already 14 months old and one of the most severe in decades.
Persistent worries about financial and technology stocks weighed on the market, with steep drop-offs in financial bellwethers like Citigroup and Bank of America leading the way downward. Both stocks ended down about 14 percent.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
