|
Boeing weighs on Dow
|
 |
December 2, 1998: 10:18 a.m. ET
Aircraft maker sinks blue chip index after delivering negative outlook
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stocks opened sharply lower Wednesday, with blue chips suffering most of the damage following a bombshell announcement by Dow member Boeing, which admitted its near-term prospects were severely damaged by the lingering Asian crisis.
At around 10 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was 103.24 points, or 1.1 percent, lower at 9,030.30. Declines led advances 1,427 to 812 as trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange reached 88 million shares.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 18.71 to 1,985.04 and the S&P 500 index fell 9.57 to 1,165.71.
Boeing's own suffering caused a sharp tumble in its stock and dragged the broader market down as investors began speculating that corporate earnings overall are likely to decline as the world continues to grapple with a persistent economic slowdown.
The bond market was higher, attracting buyers among investors taking their money out of stocks. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rose 11/32 of a point in price, for a yield of 5.02 percent.
The dollar fell against major currencies, hurt by the stock market's declines and speculation that European interest rates are unlikely to decline any time soon.
Boeing battles the Dow
A jumbo plummet in the stock of jumbo jet maker Boeing (BA), after the company late Tuesday painted a bleak picture for the near-term future and said it would cut production and slash 20 percent of its workforce over two years, was almost single-handedly responsible for the early declines in the Dow industrials. Boeing's shares tumbled 6-7/8, or 17 percent, to 33-1/2.
Among the day's other big losers, shares of IDT Communications (IDTC) lost 4-7/16, or nearly 22 percent, to 15-15/16. Late Tuesday the company reported earnings in line with expectations and said it was exploring strategic options which could include a spin-off of its Internet communications services unit.
Blue chip technology issues, largely responsible for Tuesday's bullish market turnaround, sank into the red a day later. Dow component IBM (IBM) fell 2-1/4 to 167-5/8. On the Nasdaq, Dell (DELL) lost 9/16 to 64-1/4, Intel (INTC) shed 1-1/4 to 113-3/4, and Microsoft (MSFT) was down 1-15/16 to 127-9/16. 
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
