Wall Street Stocks Plunge After Markets Reopen

Wall Street Stocks Plunge After Markets Reopen

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Wall Street stocks plunged Monday, with the Dow and Nasdaq indexes falling about 7 percent, after the markets resume trading following a four-session suspension since September 11 because the terrorist attacks destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 684.81 points, or 7.13 percent, to 8,920.70, the lowest close since December 3, 1998. The fall was the largest ever in points, breaking the previous record set on April 14, 2000, when the index dropped 617.78.

Broader stock indicators were sharply down. The technology heavy Nasdaq composite index plummeted 115.75 points, or 6.83 percent, to 1,579.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 53.77 points, or 4.92 percent, to 1,38.77.

The markets reopened at about 9:30 a.m. after representatives of the police and fire departments as well as other agencies involved in the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site, rang the opening bell. That for the four days the markets closed last week was the longest closure since the Great Depression.

Financial leaders called on investors to treat the reopening as an opportunity to buy instead of sell, but the Dow index dropped more than 200 points in a few minutes after the opening bell.

"Today's market is not important. It's the market a year from now, two years from now," said New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso.

The stocks fell further in the afternoon session, with the Dow index tumbling more than 700 points and the Nasdaq composite plunging about 7 percent. The major airlines, insurance and entertainment companies lost more than others, as their operations were hit the hardest by the attacks.

Continental Airlines fell nearly 50 percent, while AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, and UAL Corp., the parent of United Airlines, lost nearly 40 percent. Entertainment giant Disney and the nation's leading insurer MetLife closed down sharply also.

The NYSE index skipped 26.09 points to 5541.99, the American Stock Exchange index was off 2.47 points at 852.88, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 23.06 points to 417.67.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a more than 4-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 624 up, 2,672 down and 73 unchanged.

NYSE volume surged to 2.36 billion shares from 1.25 billion in the previous session.