Move FM Global News

NEW YORK, New York – U.S. stocks plunged again on Friday, with all the major indices losing about 4%.

At the close of trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 913.21 points, or 4.55%, at 19,173.98.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 dropped 104.51 points, or 4.34%, to 2,304.88.

The Nasdaq Composite shed 271.06 points, or 3.79%, to 6,879.52.

The closure of the Dow at 19,173 represents a 35% loss for the benchmark index over the past five weeks. The Dow traded at its historic high of 29,551 on 12 February.

The other major indices have lost somewhat lesser amounts, but still significant. The S&P 500 has lost around 30% from its 19 February record high. The Nasdaq Composite is down about 27% from its 19 February record.

The U.S. dollar consolidated recent gains, recouping some of its earlier losses during the day in the Asian and European sessions. After falling earlier in the day, the greenback strengthened during the U.S. session.

Around the New York close the euro had been pushed down to 1.0696. The British pound slipped a cent from where it traded earlier, to 1.1622. The Japanese yen was unwanted at 110.92. The Swiss franc fell to 0.9861.

The Canadian dollar was weak at 1.4363. The Australian dollar lacked buyers, slipping back to 0.5785, but still well ahead of its 0.5510 18-year low of Thursday. The New Zealand dollar weakened to 0.5709.

On overseas equity markets the German Dax rose strongly, increasing by 3.70%. The Paris-based CAC 40 climbed 5.01% while in London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.76%.

On Asian markets, the Hong Kong Hang Seng was the big mover, rising 1,095.94 points, or 5.05% to 22,805.77.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 173.77 points or 1.04% to 16,552.83.

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 43.49 points or 1.61% to 2,745.52.

The Australian All Ordinaries advanced 44.90 points or 0.93% to 4,854.30.