Stocks Down
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks fell Wednesday, pulling the Dow Jones industrials through the psychological 12,000 barrier for the first time since Nov. 6 as concerns about faltering subprime mortgage lenders extended a broad selloff in stocks.
The Dow first crossed the 12,000 mark in October.
The market showed its continuing nervousness about soured loans among subprime lenders. H&R Block Inc. added to the uneasiness by announcing after the closing bell Tuesday its fiscal third-quarter losses would rise because of a $29 million writedown at its mortgage arm.
The anxiety over mortgage lenders, particularly the subprime lenders that make loans to people with poor credit, pushed the Dow down by more than 240 points Tuesday, its second-biggest drop in nearly four years. The pullback resembled a 416-point drop in the Dow seen two weeks ago that began in part after a nearly 9 percent drop in stocks in Shanghai and amid concerns about subprime mortgages.
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 80.43, or 0.67 percent, to 11,995.53.
Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 8.16, or 0.59 percent, to 1,369.79, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.20, or 0.56 percent, to 2,337.37.
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