NEW YORK -- Stocks fell sharply near today's close after holding steady for most of the session following another panicky selloff in Southeast Asia. Dow dives 127
The Dow Jones industrial average sank 127.54 points to 7,691.77, with most of the damage coming in the last hour of trading.
Decliners led advancers by an 8-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,372 up, 1,570 down and 525 unchanged. NYSE volume was 513.93 million shares vs. 530.09 million yesterday.
Broad-market indicators were also hit hard late in the session as investors opted for a defensive stance before the holidays.
The Standard & Poor's 500 list fell 14.59 to 939.11, and the NYSE composite index dropped 5.63 to 494.85. The Nasdaq composite lost 22.15 to 1,509.91, and the American Stock Exchange composite fell 2.36 to 660.71. The Russell 200 index lost 0.85 to close at 422.03.
Meanwhile, the price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond dipped 5/32 point, or $1.56 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield was at late yesterday's level of 5.87 percent, which was the lowest rate since October 1993. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The market had been only modestly lower for most of the day despite the latest aftershock from South Korea, where stocks plunged a record 7.5 percent amid news that Standard & Poor's had downgraded that country's credit rating.
U.S. investors may have drawn some confidence from European markets, which shrugged off the turmoil in South Korea. Frankfurt's DAX index rose 1.9 percent and London's FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent.