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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (2263)	10/12/2000 3:41:33 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 10042

U.S. Stocks Sharply Lower As Oil, Earnings Press By Haitham Haddadin Oct 12 3:20pm ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blue-chip stocks were sharply lower in late afternoon trading on Thursday with key market gauges threatening to hit lows for the year after Wall Street was spooked by a profit warning from Home Depot Inc. and escalating Middle East violence that sent oil prices soaring. ``This market is not in a strong enough state to handle shocks from bad news,'' said Ed Peters, chief investment strategist and director of asset allocation at PanAgora Asset Management Inc. The profound weakness, which spread to the technology sector, came after the giant home retailer Home Depot (HD.N) warned of an earnings shortfall. The news aggravated fears of softer corporate growth that have pounded Wall Street almost daily since the end of August. Home Depot skidded more than 27 percent, or $13-7/16, to $35-1/2 -- hitting its lowest point since January 1999. The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 297.08 points, or 2.85 percent, at 10,116.71, flirting with the psychologically important 10,000 level which it has not sunk below since mid-March. The slide, roughly half of the Dow's largest ever point loss of 618 on April 14, came mostly on the savaging of the shares of Home Depot and investment bank J.P. Morgan (JPM.N). The two stocks' combined losses scalped 130 points from the Dow. Meanwhile, oil prices skyrocketed to near decade highs as fears of disruptions to the flow of crude oil from the oil-rich Middle East rose. Giving a lift to oil shares like Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), U.S. crude oil rose as high as $37 a barrel, a jump of $3.75, on news of the assault on U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole in Yemen, and more Israel-Palestinian violence. Wall Street has been swamped by fears that high oil prices, a slowing U.S. economy and a weak European single currency will depress corporate America's earnings. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 23.95 points, or 1.76 percent, at 1,340.64. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 56.22 points, or 1.77 percent, at 3,112.27, dropping below its May 23 closing low for the year of 3,164.55. The tech-packed index had jerked in and out of positive territory throughout the session, and was pressured by a drop in Internet-related issues like Cisco Systems (CSCO.O), or Juniper Networks (JNPR.O), in addition to software and telecommunications companies. ``The market is nervous and the sentiment is sour. The Middle East tension and the higher energy prices helped push lower a market was already falling,'' said Alan Ackerman, senior vice president and market strategist at Fahnestock & Co. ``The mood of the market is tied to the number of corporate earnings and revenue disappointments of which Home Depot, Motorola and Lucent are three examples,'' Ackerman said, referring to two other companies that have issued such warnings this week. The drop in Home Depot shares put the heat on the shares of other retailers like Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N), which dropped $2 to $43-5/16. J.P. Morgan fell $8-1/4 at $138-9/16, leading a decline in the financial sector on what some analysts said were jitters over a worsening outlook for the interest-rate sensitive sector.