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Blue Chips Drop Again
Worst Week for Dow Since September
Reuters
NEW YORK (July 12) - Blue-chip stocks fell sharply on Friday as accounting tricks by American corporations and a rumor of new irregularities repelled investors, causing the steepest weekly drop for two market gauges since September.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 117.00 points, or 1.33 percent, to 8,684.53, according to the latest data, while the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 gave up 5.97 points, or 0.64 percent, to 921.40.
Damage was limited at the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite by a positive outlook from Dell Computer Corp. The composite slipped 0.87 of a point to 1,373.56.
For the week, the Dow fell 7.4 percent, the largest percentage drop since the 30-stock measure tumbled 14.3 percent in the week after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Likewise for the S&P 500, which fell 8.84 percent. In the week after the attacks, the S&P 500 fell 11.6 percent.
Procter & Gamble Co's chief financial officer said late Friday that rumors in the stock market about possible accounting irregularities at the consumer products giant had no basis. ''This is strictly a rumor with absolutely no foundation,'' Clayton Daley, chief financial officer, said in a statement. The shares fell 2.7 percent, or $2.32 to $83.63.
Stocks rallied at the open after the upbeat outlook from Dell, a small profit from Internet gear maker Juniper Networks Inc. and a 14 percent rise in quarterly earnings from General Electric Co. But the rally fizzled after a surprise drop in consumer sentiment fed worries that consumer spending, which supports about two-thirds of the economy, may wane in coming months.
Reuters 16:31 07-12-02
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