Dow dives 157
on world woes

NEW YORK - Stocks fell sharply today, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging 157 points, as another bad day on foreign markets overshadowed the Federal Reserve's decision not to raise interest rates.

The Dow, which by midday had nearly recovered from an opening 88-point slide, fell 157.41 points to close at 7,401.32, the blue-chip barometer's lowest finish since its 554-point plunge three Mondays ago. Today's drop was a 2.1 percent loss for the Dow.

New York Stock Exchange volume was 584.60 million shares, up sharply from the sluggish Veterans Day tally of 434.61 million yesterday. There were 656 advancers, 2,384 decliners, and 394 unchanged on the NYSE.

Broader stock indicators were also dragged lower as another wave of financial jitters swept through Asia and Latin America. Financial and technology shares, many of which have the biggest exposure to those regions, were hard hit again.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list fell 17.85 to 905.93, and the NYSE composite index lost 8.73 to 476.93. The Nasdaq index fell 43.15 to 1,541.71, the fourth-biggest point loss ever. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 9.99, or 2.3 percent, to 423.44; and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 12.39 to 668.04.

Meanwhile, the price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond rose 16/32 point, or $5 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon. Its yield which moves in the opposite direction from price, fell to 6.10 percent from 6.14 percent late Monday.