Dow Jones crashes 314 points, Nasdaq 60

Big News Network.com Friday 29th February, 2008

Bulls were on their pants as Wall Street Friday as bears remained firmly in control of equity markets. The relentless fall in the U.S. dollar, and lingering fears of a recession, was the talk of the town. Sellers sent the Dow Jones Industrials down 314.32 points or 2.50% by the close of trading to 12,267.86. The Nasdaq Composite shed 60.09 points or 2.58% to 2,271.48. The Standard and Poor's 500 lost 37.05 points or 2.71% to 1,330.63. The National Association of Purchasing Managers-Chicago reported its index of regional business conditions fell to 44.5, its lowest reading in more than six years, from 51.5 in January. "It looks like there's been a reversal of fortune for the manufacturing sector from last month and the economy appears to have fallen off a cliff," Chris Rupkey, senior financial economist, Bank of Tokyo/Mitsubishi, New York, in referring to the Chicago PMI report, told Reuters newsagency. "This is just the latest piece of evidence that the U.S. economy is teetering on the edge of recession," he said. The dollar on Friday hit new record lows against the euro and Swiss franc, and dived to a three-year low against the Japanese yen.