Dollar plunges
to 8-month low

Stocks finish lower amid
uncertainty over the upcoming
election and high oil prices

NEW YORK » Volatile crude oil prices kept stocks under pressure yesterday, leaving the major indexes with a slight loss. Questions over economic growth and the upcoming election weakened the U.S. dollar and contributed to investors' uncertainty.

The dollar slid to an eight-month low early yesterday as foreign investors worried that the tight presidential race and the still-rising price of oil could further hurt the U.S. economy. Overseas stock markets fell sharply, and Wall Street extended its slide from last week.

While oil prices, which topped $55 per barrel for the first time last week, managed to fall somewhat yesterday, many analysts believe they're still too high and will start to weigh heavily on the economy should they remain above $50. A barrel of light crude was quoted at $54.54, down 63 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $55.67.

"For the first time, you're really starting to see companies mention oil in their earnings reports this quarter," said Chris Johnson, manager of quantitative analysis at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.82, or 0.08 percent, to 9,749.99, setting a fresh year-to-date low for the Dow in its lowest close since Nov. 24.

Broader stock indicators finished narrowly lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.94, or 0.09 percent, at 1,094.80, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.10, or 0.06 percent, at 1,914.04.

A strong report on home sales helped minimize the markets' losses. The National Association of Realtors said home sales rose 3.1 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.75 million units, the third-highest showing ever, reversing two months of declines. The figure was better than the 6.54 million sales that economists had expected.

"The housing data came out and the market bumped up a little bit, but it didn't have a real lasting kind of impact," said Todd Leone, managing director of equity trading at SG Cowen Securities. "Today it's all about oil, and when the futures go down, stocks go up."

Despite oil futures falling, the uncertainty over the economy and the elections accentuated negative earnings reports, while overshadowing any good news. Embattled insurance company Marsh & McLellan Cos. fell 37 cents to $26.42 after media reports said the company's chief executive was stepping down in the wake of bid-rigging and fraud charges made by New York's attorney general. After the close of trading, the company announced that CEO Jeffrey Greenberg had indeed resigned.