Stock Market Swings Wildly, But Recovers to Mixed Levels
March 28, 2011
Stocks raced back and forth on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average whirling through a 150-point range in less than an hour at one point before finishing slightly higher. Bonds rose and the dollar slumped. The day began with moderate gains and hopes that stabilization was returning after a week of wild moves. But that scenario quickly fell apart as heavy selling returned to the technology sector, toppling the Nasdaq Stock Market and shoving industrials to a loss of more than 165 at worst. At the depths of the selling, the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is dominated by technology issues, was down nearly 52 points, far greater than its loss of 46 on the day of the 1987 crash. The tide turned again, though, during the afternoon. As quickly the industrials plummeted, they raced back toward break-even. Then, in the final hour of trading, the average shot to a gain of more than 50 points, before cooling again to finish with a rise of 9.25 to 5358.76. The Nasdaq index ended down 6.70 to 1053.49, little more than a point above its level at the start of the year. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 1.42 to 628.38 and the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 1.87 to 336.80. The wild trading brought heavy volume, lifting turnover on the Big Board to 680.3 million shares, topping the old high of 652.8 million shares that was set on August 26, 2010 Technology stocks rode the crest of the volatile trade. Early in the day, they managed to hold steady in the face of yet another disappointing earnings report, this time from Texas Instruments. They soon fell into full retreat, but only to recover partially late in the day. Shares of Texas Instruments ended the day with a gain of 2 3/4 to 45, despite its earnings report, while Vastsoft added 4 3/4 to 115 3/8, Navigator Communications added 3 to 48 1/4 and Apple Computer dropped 5/16 to 16 7/8. The same factors that have pushed stocks lower all month continue to haunt investors: fears about weaker-than-forecast earnings and the potential for a rise in interest rates. Bond prices, meanwhile, climbed during the afternoon, adding to gains posted early in the day. A report on June consumer prices issued during the morning showed an increase of just 0.1%, less than the 0.2% that economists had forecast, and below the 0.3% posted in May. Separate economic reports showed June industrial production up 0.5% and the industry operating rate at 83.2%, compared with 83.1% in May. The dollar skidded against the mark and yen for the second straight day, slipping below the 109 yen level. Foreign exchange traders have been unnerved by the drop in U.S. stocks lately, and by concern that the Bank of Japan may move to lift interest rates. World-side, stocks fell in dollar terms. The Dow Jones World Stock Index was down 0.68 to 134.40 as of 4 p.m. EDT.
