NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday plunged 247 points, its second-largest one-day point drop since the infamous crash of 1987. Broader indexes tracked the Dow, with investors attributing the decline to weakness in the dollar and technical factors related to the expiration of options on stocks and stock indexes.
Treasurys finished narrowly mixed, ahead of next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The Dow industrials skidded 247.37, or 3.1%, to 7694.66. The freefall capped a treacherous week for the Dow, which dropped 336.56 points, or 4.3%, over the last five sessions.
Friday's decline pales in comparison to the 508-point freefall of Oct. 19, 1987 - better known as "Black Monday," when the DJIA lost 22.6% of its value. Using Friday's closing level, the Dow would have to fall more than 1,700 points to match that percentage loss.
The breadth of the market was decisively negative, with Big Board decliners thrashing advancers by a 3-to-1 margin on volume of 534.4 million shares, and Nasdaq losers beating gainers 3 to 2 on 540.2 million shares traded. Trading volume - usually thin on summer Fridays - was inflated by the "double-witching" options expiration.
Among the major broad indexes, the NYSE was down 10.56, the S&P 500 skidded 23.96, the Nasdaq Composite slid 24.66, the Amex surrendered 4.88, and the Russell 2000 shed just 3.29, suggesting some investors may have sought shelter in the small-cap sector.
Procter & Gamble dropped 7 3/16 to lead the downturn in the Dow industrials, while Hewlett-Packard fell 3 13/16. IBM shed 3 11/16, and General Electric dropped 3 3/8.
Gillette was down 4 3/16 in heavy trading after the consumer-products giant trimmed its earnings outlook. Pep Boys skidded 6 1/16, or 18%, after the auto-parts retailer posted weaker-than-expected results late Thursday.
Shares of tiny Geron Corp. skyrocketed 7 1/2, or 112%, after the biotechnology company discovered a gene that produces a protein that's behind the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.
Columbia/HCA was up 1 1/16 in active dealings.
Lidak Pharmaceuticals climbed 9/16, or 23%, after announcing plans to file an application with the FDA for its treatment for acute herpes. Medaphis gained 15/16, or 11%, after the company settled a class-action lawsuit by shareholders. Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the stock.
Healthcor's stock dropped 1 7/8, or 24%, after the Dallas-based health-care services provider turned in a surprising second-quarter loss.
In the computer-related sector, Dell was up 1 1/16, but Bay Networks tacked on 3/4. 3Com and Cisco Systems were down 1 9/16 and 2 1/4, respectively, while software behemoth Microsoft dropped 3 3/8.
Intel shed 3 3/4 among chip stocks. Micron Technology and Motorola lost 2 1/4 and 2 7/16, respectively, while Applied Materials fell 4 3/16. But Rambus, the well-regarded developer of chip technology, rose 1 9/16.
DSP Technology, a maker of computer-automated measurement and control instrumentation and systems, soared 3 5/32, or 52%, as earnings rose sharply.
Sealed Air jumped 6 9/16, or 14%, as investors hailed the company's $4.9 billion purchase of W.R. Grace's packaging unit.
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Among Treasurys, the long bond was unchanged to yield 6.54%. Intermediate-term notes were up 2/32 to up 6/32. Three-month bills were down seven basis points at 5.12.
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The dollar was quoted at 117.60 yen and 1.8204 marks, down 1/4 yen and down 1 9/10 pfennig from late Thursday in New York.
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Transmitted: 8/15/97 3:22 PM (L100Y1vE) |
