Dow drops below 10,000 The gloom continues on the world's markets Wall Street's benchmark Dow Jones index dropped below the 10,000 point barrier on Wednesday as the global share slump showed little sign of ending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average - reflecting the value of 30 of the largest firms in the US - closed at its lowest level in nearly two years and the first time below 10,000 points since October. Markets 2100 GMT London's FTSE 100: 5,625 Down 1.6% Paris Cac-40: 5,115 Down 1.4% Frankfurt Dax: 5,762 Down 3.4% US Dow: 9,973 Down 3.1% US Nasdaq: 1,972 Down 2.2% At its lowest, the Dow was down 395 points, or 3.8%. To add to the gloom, the Nasdaq market, home to some of America's best known technology and telecom companies, fell back below the 2,000 point mark, to levels last seen more than two years ago. Vicious cycle All 30 components of the Dow ended down, with some of the biggest losses coming in the banking sector, which is reeling from concerns over Japan's deepening economic crisis. Gary Kaltbaum, a technical analyst for First Union Securities, said: "Anyway you put it, this is bad." "You are in the vicious cycle now. "Its a combination of Japan and Europe getting slaughtered, and the 'throw in the towel' mentality here. I do not know where it ends," he added. Wall Street's slump was preceded by a battering of Europe's main stock markets. Traders in London, Frankfurt and Paris continued to react to a wave of profit warnings from telecom and technology companies and concerns about a slowdown in the US economy. Anyway you put it, this is bad Gary Kaltbaum, analyst First Union securities London's FTSE 100, already at a 27-month low on Tuesday, had more than 4% wiped off its value at one time but recovered slightly to close at 5625, down 1.6%. Across all 758 listed companies on the London exchange, the decline in their values at one point totalled £65bn. In Paris the benchmark Cac 40 index also recovered earlier losses to stand at 5,115, down 1.4%, while Germany's Dax index stood at 5831, down 2.1%. However, hopes of an early end to the long running global decline in share prices were looking premature - and analysts were predicting further losses when the markets open on Thursday. Back to 1998 levels London's FTSE 100 index, which ended Tuesday at its lowest level since December 1998, is now more than 20% below its turn-of-the-millennium peak. The main French and German share indexes have seen falls of even greater amounts since their peak of 12 months ago. Market losers Energis down 13% Cable & Wireless down 12% Colt Telecom down 11% HSBC down 5% Bank of Scotland down 5% Societe Generale down 5% Deutsche Bank down 5% American Express down 7% Cisco down 7% Citgiroup Down 6% Benedict Lawson of Barclays Stockbrokers told the BBC that rumours of a fresh profits warning to come from the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia was adding to nervousness in the markets. This followed news on Tuesday of job cuts and dented sales at Cable & Wireless. Since that warning from Cable & Wireless its shares have fallen 31% - wiping about £6bn from its market value. Other profits warnings on Tuesday from Motorola - cutting 7,000 jobs - Siemens and Ericsson followed similar job cuts and profits warnings by Cisco Systems and Intel. Banking stocks also received a battering as concern grew over the economic crisis in Japan. Citicorp, which is perceived as being exposed to the Asian market, was down 6%. HSBC, which is heavily exposed to the Asian market, and Bank of Scotland closed down 5%. Barclays also ended the day down. Search BBC News Online Advanced search options BBC RADIO NEWS BBC ONE TV NEWS WORLD NEWS SUMMARY BBC NEWS 24 BULLETIN PROGRAMMES GUIDE The Markets: 22:37 UK FTSE 100 5625.9 -94.8 Dow Jones 9973.46 -317.3 Nasdaq 1972.09 -42.7 FTSE delayed by 15 mins, Dow and Nasdaq by 20 mins The global shake-out News Markets hammered London meltdown Nasdaq below 2,000 Analysis Market crash impact What now for investors Why markets are falling The high-tech slump 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 See also: 12 Mar 01 | Business Amazon chief's net stock warning 14 Mar 01 | Business £65bn wiped off London shares 09 Mar 01 | Business Shares battered by Intel 13 Mar 01 | Asia-Pacific Political crisis fuels market slide 14 Mar 01 | Business Why are the stock markets falling? Top Business stories now: Dow drops below 10,000 Yen slumps as bank worries grow UK jobless drops below one million Turkey tackles debt-laden banks Oil weak ahead of Opec meeting TotalFinaElf's profits double £65bn wiped off London shares US factories hit by slowdown _______________________________________________ Marxist-Leninist-List mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/marxist-leninist-list
