NEW YORK -- Stocks fell, led by Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan & Co. and other banks, amid concern about the stability of Brazil's currency and the health of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Dow drops 66
The Dow Jones industrial average failed to sustain an early advance for the third straight session, falling 66.17 points to close at 8,366.04 after shedding a 100-point gain. The Dow, which less than three weeks ago was sinking toward 7,400, has now lost about lost 167 points in three sessions after jumping nearly 600 points during a seven-session winning streak.
Decliners led advancers by a 10-to-9 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,455 up, 1,603 down and 483 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 757.16 million shares, up sharply from 600.25 million yesterday.
Broader indicators held out longer than the Dow, but turned negative near the close. The Russell 2000 fell for the first time in 10 sessions after surging 20 percent from a 21/2 year low reached on Oct. 8.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 6.97 to 1,065.35, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 7.35 to 1,717.63. The NYSE composite index fell 2.24 to 527.77, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 2.17 to 632.38. The Russell 2000 fell 0.57 to 371.50.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up 3/16 point, or $1.871/2 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.09 percent from 5.11 percent late yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Frankfurt's DAX index rose 2.3 percent, London's FT-SE 100 rose 1.9 percent, and Paris' CAC-40 rose 2.9 percent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei stock average fell 0.2 percent.