Dow Jones falls 525 points, dips below 10,000

06 October 2008 18:19  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell below 10,000 points for the first time in four years on Monday, as reassurances from the US government failed to soothe investor concerns.

At 11:45 hours Houston time (16:45 GMT), the DJIA had fallen 525 points, or more than 5%, pressured downward by sell offs on European stock exchanges.

Crude oil prices, meanwhile, fell $4.29/bbl on the NYMEX to trade at $89.59/bbl, pushed lower by a stronger dollar.

On the New York Stock Exchange, fertilizer companies were particularly hit hard by the slew of bad news after a JP Morgan analyst lowered their expectations of Mosaic’s earnings, citing weaker phosphate prices.

Shares of Mosaic were down $7.89/share (€5.76/share), or more than 19%, on the news to trade at $32.99/share

Industry peer Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp) was down $13.46/share, or more than 14%, to trade at $81.90/share – nearly 70% lower than the company’s share price in June, which hit an all time high of $241.62/share.

“I think it’s just overall depreciation of all commodities in general. I don’t think it’s just fertilizer. It’s an all-around commodities issue right now with the market,” said Estelle Grasset, spokesperson for The Fertilizer Institute.

Other chemical companies also lost ground in the broad-based sell-off.

Shares of Dow Chemical were down 87 cents/share, or nearly 3%, to trade at $29.02.

Shares of Pfizer were down 91 cents/share, or nearly 5%, to trade at $18.09/share

Calumet Specialty Products saw its shares fall $3.08/share, or more than 27%, to trade at $8.22/share.

($1 = €0.73)

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By: David Rosen
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