Wall Street roller coaster falls 8.12 pts

14 October 2008 16:29  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US stocks dropped by 8.12 points on Tuesday morning following a spike of  405.4 points following news of the nation's attempts to revive the nation's credit markets.

As of 11:08 hours New York time (15:08 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) reached 9,379.49, losing all of its gains earlier in the day.

Among chemicals on the New York Stock Exchange, Dow Chemical traded at $26.00 (€19.24), down 0.34%. DuPont reached $25.99, down 0.38%.

Among the largest gainers was Georgia Gulf, which hit $2.44, up 8.44%. Quaker Chemical posted some of the steepest losses, trading at $19.83, down 6.55%.

The falling values followed several announcements by the US government.

The Treasury Department announced that it could spend $250bn to purchase preferred stocks from banks - in an attempt to provide lenders with capital.

In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) will temporarily guarantee the senior debt of all insured institutions that fall under its insurance programme.  

The Federal Reserve Board (Fed) also revealed more details about its plans to revive the nation's market for commercial paper. US companies use commercial paper to fund much of their day-to-day operations.

Earlier, the US market for commercial paper froze, leading to worries that the nation's companies could be unable to fund their payroll and other expenses.

Under the plan, the Fed's newly created programme, the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), will fund purchases of commercial paper of three month maturity from high-quality issuers.

($1 = €0.74)

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

By: Al Greenwood
+1 713 525 2653

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