NEW YORK -- Stocks fell again today after another early rally fizzled, extending a monthlong plunge from record highs. Dow off 34.50
The Dow Jones industrial average surrendered an early 97-point gain and finished 34.50 points lower at 8,425.00, its lowest close since late February and 9.8 percent below July 17's peak of 9,337.97. It finished down 173.02 for the week.
But while a late recovery and a huge gain by J.P. Morgan & Co. helped avert the Dow's first 10 percent "correction" since October, the stock market's other well-known barometer, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, finished the day 10.4 percent below last month's peak. The S&P 500 fell 12.16 to 1,062.75 today.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 5-to-4 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,321 up, 1,670 down and 534 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 632.57 million shares, down from 656.70 million yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 5.35 to 535.71.
Meanwhile, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 12.35 to 1,790.19, the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 5.14 to 662.64 and the Russell 2000 index fell 1.04 to 402.79.
J.P. Morgan surged the equivalent of about 36 Dow points after Business Week reported that it is discussing a merger with a major European concern.
The 30-year Treasury bond rose 27/32, or $8.44 per $1,000 bond. Yields tumbled 6 basis points to 5.54 percent.
Overseas, Hong Kong's main index soared 8.5 percent after the government made a rare intervention to prop up the market, which had plunged 16 percent to a five-year low this month. Tokyo's Nikkei stock average fell 1.7 percent.