Dow Falls the Most in One Day Since 2001

  • February 27, 2007
  • Darren Wong

U.S. stocks plunged after
Asian markets sold off with the Shanghai Composite shedding 9% in
Tuesday’s session.  The Dow recovered from a 500+ point
mid-afternoon decline to close down by 415.54 points (-3.3%). 
Today’s drop was the largest one-day drop since the markets
reopened on September 17, 2001.

Crude prices closed fractionally
higher in today’s session at $61.43 per barrel.  Gold futures for April delivery
moved lower by 0.4% to $687.29 after equities plunged in Asia
sparking speculation that demand for precious metals may decline.

Around Europe, the U.K.’s FTSE 100
index fell 2.31% to 6,286.10, while France’s CAC 40 index dropped
3.02% to 5,588.39 and Germany’s DAX index slipped 2.96% to
6,819.65.

Our

Daily Market Bias page has been updated with new indicators to
determine if there is a strong bias for the market to move higher
(or lower) the following day.  These tables can help you to
pinpoint market conditions that have historically led to
significant up or down moves over the next 1 to 5 days. 

Click here for more information on our Daily Market Bias
indicators.



Stocks in
Motion

Target
(
TGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 EPS Jumps 22%, Tops Street View;
Revenues Rise 16%, Comps Up 4.8% (full
story).  TGT shares close lower by 4%.

SIRIUS
(
SIRI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q4 Loss Narrows As Revenues Jump 142% (full
story).  SIRI shares dropped 2.1%.

Harrah’s Entertainment
(
HET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Turns To Profit In Q4,
Revenues Up 16%, Adj. Profit Falls On Weak Margins In Atlantic City (full
story).  HET shares lost 0.6%.

Heinz
(
HNZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q3 Profit Soars; EPS, Excl. Items,
Discontinued Operations Beats View; Affirms Full Year View (full
story).  HNZ shares fell by 2.4%.

Vornado
(
VNO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Posts Slightly Lower Q4 Profit; FFO
Rises (full
story).  VNO shares dropped by 3.4%.

Harley-Davidson
(
HOG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Lowers Q1 Shipment Outlook Due
To Strike; Expects Moderate Revenue Growth, Lower Margins In 2007 (full
story).  HOG shares lost 3.25%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Dow

 -415.54 12,216.72

NASDAQ

 -96.65 2,407.87

S&P 500

 -50.17 1,399.22

 

 NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

 4,192,014,000 3,019,853,000

Advances

 464 268

Declines

 2,864 2,844

Up Volume

 40 123

Down Volume

 3,959 2,781

New Highs

 98 56

New Lows

 72 90



Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors
Nasdaq Insurance Index (INSR) Nasdaq Telecommunications Index (IXTC)
Morgan Stanley Healthcare Providers (RXH) Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI)
Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG) Amex Networking Index (NWX)


Economic
News

Consumer Confidence 112.5 vs
109.0 consensus

Existing Home Sales 6.46 mln vs 6.24
mln consensus

Durable Orders -7.8% vs -3.0% consensus, prior +2.9%

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com