Stocks Sink, Led by Countrywide Financial

Countrywide Financial (CFC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is seeing yet another down day after it said it is going to tap into its entire credit line. CFC shares are down nearly 15% as of 11:45AM EST. Meanwhile, economic reports released suggested that the housing market is still not out of the woods and the job market is showing signs of weakness, which could fortify expectations for an interest rate cut. Nonetheless, the credit crisis could linger in the minds of traders and prod them to be more cautious before they take any big bets.

Crude oil futures for September delivery fell 2.4% to $71.54 a barrel. Gold futures for December delivery fell 2.2% to $664.90 an ounce, the largest drop in over a month.

Around Asia, Shanghai's Composite fell 2.1% to 4,765.45, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 3.3% to 20,672.39, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 2% to 16,148.49.

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Darren Wong
Associate Editor
darrenw@tradingmarkets.com

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