US stock market falls another 350 points

17 September 2008 18:05  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 350 points, or 3%, by lunchtime on Wednesday, in the latest chapter of a volatile trading week that has shaken confidence in the US economy.

 

Late Tuesday, the US government announced its intention to grant an $85b emergency bridge loan to insurance company AIG to avert an economic collapse, but traders remained uncertain that the efforts would be sufficient.

 

Among the 30 companies that make up the DJIA – a number of which manufacture chemicals – only one corporation, Johnson and Johnson, was in positive territory at 11:25am CST.

 

Johnson and Johnson was up 52 cents, or less than one percent, at $70.32 per share. The company was boosted on Wednesday by news it had won nearly $600m in a decade-old patent lawsuit.

 

Shares of Dow Chemical were down $1.39, or 3.92%, to $34.07.

 

Shares of DuPont fell $1.28, or 2.77%, to $44.99 per share.

 

ExxonMobil shares lost 47 cents, or 0.61%, to $75.96, despite oil prices making a moderate recovery on Wednesday. Industry peer Chevron lost 61 cents, or 0.75%, to $81.25 per share.

 

Alcoa fell $1.29 per share, or 4.87%, to $25.21.

 

Shares of Merck, meanwhile, fell 68 cents, or 2.11%, to $31.60. Fellow pharmaceutical company Pfizer, meanwhile, lost six cents, or 0.34%, to $17.75.

 

Procter and Gamble lost 65 cents, or 0.90%, to $71.35 per share.

 

($1 = €0.71)

 

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By: David Rosen
713-525-2653

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