US stocks fall 1.5%, end week down 15.5%

10 October 2008 22:19  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) made a last-minute drop to cut short a rally on Friday, settling at 8,451.19, down 128 points, or 1.5%, after dipping below the 8,000 mark during morning trading.

The DJIA briefly sank to 7,882.51 in early trading, a new 52-week low. An afternoon rally took it to a high of 8855.64 before a last-hour sell-off ended the week at a 15.5% loss.

The closing bell marked a gut-churning week on Wall Street, as investors’ fears about banking and economic woes offset news of central banks cutting benchmark rates and infusing capital into financial systems.

The S&P 500 index posted losses for nine straight days, the most in its history, to finish on Friday at 899.22, down 10.7, or 1.2% for the day and 19.3% from 3 October.

The index’s chemical manufacturing component dropped 8.1% during the same period, although a Bank of America Securities analyst said the industry should have enough liquidity to weather the current financial storms.

Shares of Stepan closed at $42.42/share (€30.97/share), up $5.84/share, or 15.96%, from the day before.

Shares of specialty chemical producer Cytec Industries fell $3.04/share, or 10.24%, to settle at $26.66/share after the company slashed its earnings projection for 2008 by 10%.  

Shares of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp) settled at $91.08/share, down $1.77, or 1.91%, due to concerns of how falling corn prices would affect the fertilizer manufacturer.

Dow Chemical shares lost $1.39/share, or 5.39%, to settle at $24.40/share.

($1 = €0.73)

To discuss how the financial crisis is affecting the chemicals industry visit this thread on ICIS connect

By: Ben Lefebvre
+1 713 525 2653

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