- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks
wrapped up a brutal September with a sell-off on Monday, dragging the Standard
& Poor's 500 and the blue-chip Dow to their worst quarter since the
crash of 1987, as familiar worries over the U.S. economy and corporate
profits drained investor confidence.
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- "People are tremendously disillusioned with the
current news, and they don't see any real catalyst for upside going forward,"
said Philip Dow, director of equity strategy at RBC Dain Rauscher. "It's
a very difficult time."
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- The Wilshire 5000 total market index .TMW has tumbled
17 percent in the quarter, erasing about $1.9 trillion in market value,
according to Wilshire Associates. That represents about $7,000 for each
U.S. citizen. The index is the broadest representation of the U.S. stock
market.
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- About $8 trillion in investor wealth has been lost since
the market dropped off all-time highs reached in early 2000, according
to Wilshire, the investment research and advisory company which calculates
the broad market gauge.
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- "The mood is pretty bad out there," said Thomas
Garcia, who helps manage $2.5 billion in equities at Thornburg Investment
Management Co. "People are expecting the worst, and there's some uncertainty
out there ... on what earnings are going to be in October."
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- Speculation mounted that the Federal Reserve would cut
interest rates yet again to prop up the anemic economy, as fresh data showed
manufacturing in the Midwest shrank for the first time in eight months
in September. This was the latest in a string of reports raising worries
the frail economy will crimp corporate profits.
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- Intel Corp. INTC.O , the world's No. 1 chipmaker, fell
almost 5 percent on worries over the timing of a turnaround in the beleaguered
computer industry. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT.N , the world's No. 1 retailer,
sank almost 4 percent after cutting its sales forecast for September.
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- The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI lost 109.52 points,
or 1.42 percent, to 7,591.93, according to the latest available data, hitting
its lowest close since August 1998.
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- The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC fell 27.09
points, or 2.26 percent, to 1,172.07, falling to its lowest close since
September 1996. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 12.09
points, or 1.46 percent, to 815.28.
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- Losers beat advancers by a ratio of 6 to 5 on the New
York Stock Exchange and on Nasdaq. More than 1.74 billion shares changed
hands on the Big Board and more than 1.67 billion shares on Nasdaq in moderate
trading.
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- In September, the Dow sank more than 12 percent, the
Nasdaq fell almost 11 percent and the S&P 500 surrendered 11 percent,
The S&P 500 suffered its biggest one-month decline since tumbling 14.6
percent in August 1998.
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- For the quarter, the Dow fell 17.9 percent, the Nasdaq
tumbled 20 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 17.6 percent. The Dow and
the S&P 500 racked up their biggest quarterly decline since the fourth
quarter of 1987 when the stock market suffered its last major crash.
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- "The real problem is sentiment ... with every earnings
cut and every soft economic number, that gives us pause," said Brian
Pears, head of equity trading at Victory Capital Management. "I happen
to think we are probably fine, but people are starting to price in a worst-case
scenario. People are getting nervous."
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- An already sluggish climate took a turn for the worse
when major retailers scaled back sales forecasts as increasingly hesitant
consumers fretting about job losses and a disastrous stock market stayed
away from stores.
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- Wal-Mart fell $2 to $49.24. The Dow member ratcheted
back its September sales forecast, the third month in a row the world's
biggest retailer has been hurt by the shaky economy and consumer insecurity.
The S&P retail index .RLX slumped 4.17 percent.
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- Intel dropped 73 cents to $13.89 and helped lead the
Dow lower. The chipmaking giant's chief executive again said a turnaround
in the computer industry will not come until corporate profits rebound.
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange semiconductor index .SOXX lost 3.38 percent.
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- Other technology heavyweights also slumped. Web gear
giant Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO.O fell 75 cents to $10.48 and ranked as the
most active on the Nasdaq. Software leader Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O dropped
$1.51 to $43.74. Business software maker Oracle Corp. ORCL.O lost 54 cents
to $7.86.
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- Dow component McDonald's Corp. MCD.N fell 71 cents to
$17.66, or nearly 4 percent. Moody's Investors Service has cut its outlook
for the fast-food giant's $9 billion of debt to "negative" from
"stable," saying McDonald's earnings may fall as competition
rises.
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- Bone tissue transplant provider Osteotech Inc. OSTE.O
plunged $4.31, or more than 45 percent, to $5.16. Osteotech said it was
temporarily suspending production of some products after tissue produced
by the company failed to prove sterile. As a result of the disruption to
production, Osteotech said it was withdrawing its 2002 financial forecast.
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