Wall Street selloff
picking up steam

The Dow falls 234 but
the Nikkei rises 7.5%

Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Investors punished stocks again today, directing most of their anger toward blue chips as they grappled with disappointment over the Federal Reserve's interest-rate policy. A published report of possible job cuts at Procter & Gamble and a bigger-than-expected rise in inflation added to the foul mood.

"Just as there seemed to be no end in sight on the upside a year ago, the market is equally dismal right now," said A.C. Moore, chief investment strategist for Dunvegan Associates in Santa Barbara, Calif. "Positive sentiment feeds on itself; negative sentiment feeds on itself."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 233.76 to 9,487.00 -- on the heels of yesterday's 238-points loss -- and closed at its lowest level since March 4, 1999. The Nasdaq composite index stumbled 27.21 to 1,830.23, while the Standard & Poor's 500 was down 20.48 at 1,122.14.

Decliners trounced advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,218 down, 872 up and 212 unchanged. Volume was 1.5 billion vs. 1.4 billion yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 11.40 to 575.14, the American Stock Exchange composite index lost 15.11 to 861.11 and the Russell 2000 index fell 8.74 to 435.74. The Treasury's 10-year note was unchanged at 10178; its yield remained at 4.76 percent. The 30-year bond fell 14 to 1011532; its yield rose 2 basis points to 5.28 percent.

Stocks extended the decline that began yesterday when the Fed cut interest rates by a 0.5 percentage point. Investors believed that a more aggressive 0.75 point reduction was needed to boost the slowing economy and anemic corporate profits. However, some analysts like Moore said the selling was overdone given that the Fed has said it will lower rates as much as is needed to stimulate the economy.

Investors also sold stocks lower on a Labor Department report that showed inflation at the consumer level rose 0.3 percent in February, slightly worse than the 0.2 percent increase Wall Street expected.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei climbed nearly 7.5 percent today, reaching a three-week high with its seventh-largest percentage gain ever amid speculation that the government bought shares to prop up the market. The Nikkei rebounded from a morning selloff to advance 912.97 points, or 7.49 percent, to 13,103.94.