NEW YORK >> Wall Street staggered through another volatile session today, with the Dow Jones industrials bouncing between gains and losses before surrendering in late afternoon and closing with their fourth straight loss. Volatile session
ends downBy Lisa Singhania
Associated PressTech stocks suffered even sharper losses after AT&T and Lucent issued disappointing earnings reports. And financial stocks were hit hard by questions about bankers' possible role in the collapse of Enron.
Some stocks including Dow components managed to hold on to gains for much of the session. But analysts said that after weeks of selling, there are few incentives to do much buying. With confidence continually eroding due to corporate ethics scandals, most investors are unwilling to make many bets.
Declining issues led advancers 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavy. The Dow ended the session down 82.24 at 7,702,34, giving it a four-day loss of 840.14.
The Nasdaq composite index, heavily populated by high-tech stocks, dropped 53.67 to 1,228.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, one of the broadest market measures, but one with a sizeable tech representation, fell 21.24 to 798.61; it was the S&P's first close below 800 since April 1997. The Russell 2000 index slipped 15.12 to 364.53. In percentage terms, the Nasdaq and the Russell had the worst performance, falling 4.2 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. In comparison, the Dow was down 1.1 percent, the S&P 2.6 percent.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was up 1/8 point today, while its yield fell to 4.43 percent from 4.45 percent late yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes gained 3/32 point and yielded 2.29 percent, down from 2.34 percent yesterday.
"We're searching for a bottom here," said Will Braman, chief investment officer, John Hancock Funds. "But sentiment is still bad, about as bad as it gets."
Indeed, it was no surprise that the market had difficulty holding on to gains after its protracted selloff. Stocks that have fallen for more than nine weeks have quickly relinquished even the smallest of advances.
Financial stocks slid for a second straight session as a Senate subcommittee investing the Enron collapse prepared to hear testimony from J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup officials. Also today, The New York Times reported Citigroup might have completed transactions for Enron in a way that helped Enron conceal its financial condition. Both institutions have denied any wrongdoing in their handling of Enron business.
Citigroup tumbled $5.04 to $27, while J.P. Morgan lost $4.44 to $20.08. And Tyco was off $1.20 at $10.65 after reporting quarterly results in line with expectations, but saying it might miss the mid-August deadline set by the SEC for executives to sign off on financial results. The company said it first wants to complete an investigation of the dealings of its former chairman L. Dennis Kozlowski, and does plan to eventually comply.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.3 percent. In Europe, Germany's DAX index fell 4.8 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 1.0 percent, and France's CAC-40 dropped 2.5 percent.