U.S. TRADING SUMMARY: U.S. stocks were sharply lower at midday as
the market continued one of the steepest slides in recent memory,
disappointing many on Wall Street who had hoped that the bottom
was at hand. At 1:20 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was
down 130 points, or 1.61%, at 7922. At one point, the average
moved below 7908, wiping out all of its 1998 gains. The Dow, which
rallied nearly 44 points at the opening bell, moved quickly into
the red. The Nasdaq was the hardest hit of the major U.S. stock
indices, as investors dealt sharp blows to high-tech stocks,
especially telecommunications, personal computer stocks and
Internet-stocks. The Nasdaq was off 80 points, or 4.9%, to 1559.
The S&P 500 fell 24 points to 1003. Declines were ahead of
advances by a 4-to-1 margin on the Big Board as 509 million shares
traded hands.
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