NEW YORK -- Blue-chip shares rebounded again today after flirting with 1998's lows for a second session, but most stock measures posted heavy losses amid doubts that anything will be done to halt the global economic crisis. Dow off 58.45
The Dow Jones industrial average rallied back from an afternoon deficit of 232 points, briefly edging into positive terrain before finishing 58.45 points lower at 7,726.24.
The barometer of 30 major companies, which lost 244.08 points last week, sank as low as 7,552 today and 7,530 on Friday. The market's summertime slide saw the Dow sink as low as 7,400 on Sept. 1, a day after it plunged 512 points to 7,539, the lowest close of 1998.
Broader stock indicators also bounced back from the day's lows, but not as sharply as the blue-chip sector. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 14.04, or 1.4 percent, to 988.56 after rebounding from a 37-point slide. The Nasdaq composite index fell as much as 103 points before finishing with a loss of 78.29, or 4.9 percent, at 1,536.69.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 3-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 787 up, 2,411 down and 335 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 802.74 million shares, down from 897.32 million on Friday.
The NYSE composite index fell 5.72 to 492.44, and the American Stock Exchange composite index dropped 16.26 to 593.21.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 12.91, or 3.7 percent, to 336.80.
The 30-year Treasury bond soared 2 2/32 to 112 14/32, lowering its yield to 4.72 percent.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei stock average fell 2.08 percent and closed under 13,000 for the first time in nearly 13 years.
