London blasts: Explosions rock US financial markets

07 July 2005 17:04  [Source: ICIS news]

NEW YORK (CNI)--The series of explosions in London Thursday rocked financial markets across the Atlantic.

 

On the New York Stock Exchange, trading opened as usual, but at a frenzied pace. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 66 points (0.6%), in the first few minutes of trading to 10,204, but hours earlier, the Dow Jones futures were down as much as 200 points.

 

The downturn hit nearly all sectors of the market, including chemicals, where stocks fell on the order of 0.5% to 2%. US major chemical stocks tumbled out of the gates with Dow Chemical off 61 cents to $43.97 (Euro36.81), DuPont down 40 cents to $42.20, Lyondell falling 40 cents to $26.20, Huntsman down 34 cents to $21.21 and Eastman off 50 cents to $54.58.

 

Specialty chemicals were also hit, with Rohm and Haas down 53 cents to $43.95, Chemtura off 36 cents to $14.52, Hercules off 28 cents to $13.80, Albemarle falling 19 cents to $35.06 and PolyOne down 31 cents to $6.40.

 

Oil prices appeared unaffected by the attacks, with crude oil down 78 cents to $60.

 

High on the list of concerns is the impact of the terrorist attacks on the global economy. Following the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, an already weak US economy continued to struggle under the weight of falling consumer confidence and spiking oil prices.

By: Joseph Chang
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