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Gloom takes over stocks
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September 4, 1998: 1:36 p.m. ET
Market heads lower as investors bail out of stocks ahead of long weekend
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wall Street headed lower in afternoon trading Friday as investors opted to sell at the end of a troubled week for stocks and ahead of a long weekend, still concerned about the consequences of the Russian financial crisis on emerging markets around the world.
An early bounce fueled by gains in overseas markets and a friendly U.S. employment report fizzled away as worries about a worldwide slowdown prompted investors to sell stocks before the three-day holiday break. U.S. financial markets will be closed Monday for Labor Day.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. the Dow Jones industrial average was 57.16 points lower at 7,625.06. On the New York Stock Exchange, advances led declines 1,447 to 1,379 on trading volume of 453 million shares, somewhat lighter than during the market's roller-coaster rides earlier in the week.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 9.72 to 1,562.14 and the S&P 500 index eased 10.73, or 1.2 percent, to 971.53. (Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers.)
The bond market turned higher in late trading as stocks stumbled. Bonds ignored the August jobs report which was in line with expectations. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rose 9/32 of a point in price for a yield of 5.27 percent. The bond market will close early at around 2 p.m. because of the holiday weekend.
The dollar turned lower against the Japanese yen and the German mark as investors expected more turmoil in the world's emerging markets and focused their eyes on a meeting later today between U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan also is expected to join the rendezvous in San Francisco.
In Russia, the ruble continued to slide as a parliamentary vote on President Yeltsin's nomination for prime minister was put off until Monday and acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin proposed a series of tough economic reform measures.
Techs and banks wobble again
Financial and technology shares, the market's most accurate barometers in the past week's storms, once again were in the spotlight.
But an expected recovery failed to take place, and after an early bounce most of the market's most volatile high-profile stocks headed south again.
Lehman Brothers, which late Thursday joined the crowd and announced that Russian exposure would eat about $60 million off the latest quarter's profit, traded 7/8 lower at 37-1/2.
Other brokers and banks, all of whom already have announced damage caused by Russia, also took a beating. Citicorp (CCI) fell 7-1/4 to 91-1/4, Chase Manhattan (CMB) lost 4-5/8 to 44-5/8, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD) was off 3-13/16 to 49-13/16. Dow member J.P. Morgan (JPM) slipped 3 to 85-3/4 and Travelers (TRV) lost 3-1/16 to 38-1/16. Fellow blue chip American Express (AXP) shed 4-1/4 to 73.
CIBC Oppenheimer lowered its rating of J.P. Morgan to "hold" from "strong buy" and cut its earnings estimates for several financial firms including Morgan, Bankers Trust (BT), Bear Stearns (BSC), Chase Manhattan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Travelers, Citicorp, Morgan Stanley and PaineWebber (PWJ).
In the technology sector, the performance was also weaker than many investors would have liked to see. Dell Computer (DELL) eased 1-1/8 to 106-15/16, Microsoft (MSFT) lost 2-1/4 to 97, but Intel (INTC) inched up 1/2 to 77-1/4. Dow member IBM (IBM) was off 3-5/16 to 118-7/16.
Oil stocks drew some strength from rebounding oil prices around the world, with Dow component Chevron (CHV) rising 2-11/16 to 78-3/8 and fellow Dow component Exxon (XON) up 3/4 to 64-11/16. 
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
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