Turbulent trading on Wall Street A volatile day for US stocks The US stock markets gave out conflicting signals on Thursday, with the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained ground. The Dow, representing the top 30 companies in the US, finished down 97.52 points at 9389.48 - its lowest level in two years. Markets (Fall since peak) London FTSE: 5,314 (25%) Nasdaq: 1,897 (62%) Dow Jones: 9,389 (20%) Frankf't Dax: 5,388 (30%) Paris Cac: 4,824 (30%) But even the Dow managed a bounce in the last hour of trading after falling more than 300 points earlier in the day. By contrast the Nasdaq closed up 67.47 points at 1897.7, as technology stocks made a rare comeback. Across the world, however, the share slump gathered pace with European stock markets closing down yet again. And despite its positive close, the Nasdaq is still about 60% below its highest point of a year ago. In Europe there were big falls, with London's FTSE 100 closing down more than 4% to 5,314, its lowest closing level since October 1998. It is 25% below its all time high. Germany's benchmark Dax index closed down more than 4% and France's Cac 40 finished almost 4% lower. Both were at their lowest levels since October 1999. Reasons for fall The past year has seen share values slump across the world, largely because of worries about the slowdown of the US economy and the realisation that profit expectations for many internet-related firms were unrealistic. The knock-on effect of economic slowdown has been a steady stream of profits warnings and jobs cuts - the latest coming from Charles Schwab, UPS, Procter & Gamble in the US and Invensys and Capital Radio in the UK. Conference gloom And the latest bad news on the broader economic front came from the US business group, the Conference Board, which warned that new figures showed the US economy was heading for a prolonged slowdown. "The Leading Economic Index suggests that this period of slower growth will probably continue for the next few months," said Ken Goldstein, their chief economist. The US economic slowdown has sent shares falling The continuing falls on the Dow took the Japanese markets down again on Thursday, with the Nikkei returning towards its 15-year lows after losing 2% or 250 points to close at 12,854, after rising 7% on previous day. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 426 points to 12,728. The losses dashed hopes that Tuesday's US interest rate cut would bring a swift end to the turmoil which has gripped the world's stock markets in the past few weeks. The 0.5% interest rate cut was intended to kick start the faltering economy by persuading consumers to borrow and spend and companies to borrow and invest. It was the third 0.5% reduction this year. But many traders in New York had decided they wanted to see a 0.75% - and that disappointment appeared to be the cause of a huge slump in share values on Wednesday. The Markets: 23:08 UK FTSE 100 5314.8 -225.9 Dow Jones 9389.48 -97.5 Nasdaq 1897.70 +67.5 FTSE delayed by 15 mins, Dow and Nasdaq by 20 mins The global shake-out News Dow under 10,000 London meltdown Nasdaq below 2,000 Analysis Market crash impact What now for investors Focus on interest rates Why markets are falling Buffett: 'I told you so' Economic slowdown US recession? Japan on the brink Background Wall Street blues Remember day traders? Dow Jones milestones Nasdaq crash Techmark tumble Dot.com bomb Year 2000 gloom TALKING POINT Is the world heading for recession? See also: 22 Mar 01 | Business London shares plunge by £64bn 21 Mar 01 | Business Lastminute joins 90% club 22 Mar 01 | Business Pressure mounts as BT slides 22 Mar 01 | Business Four-year-old beating City expert 21 Mar 01 | Business US inflation higher than expected 20 Mar 01 | Business Will UK interest rates now fall further? 20 Mar 01 | Business Q&A: Why do interest rates matter? 14 Mar 01 | Business Why are the stock markets falling? 22 Mar 01 | Business Charles Schwab cuts staff 22 Mar 01 | Business Talking up Japan's economy Internet links:
