Wall Street melts further
Wall Street indices plummeted again on Wednesday as US investors reacted to a series of depressing earnings reports that offered more signs of a sharp economic downturn in the United States and abroad.
The Wall Street plunged yet again amid fears of a deeper recession in the US. The Dow Industrial Average index tumbled 514 points to 8,519. The Nasdaq cracked 81 points to 1,616.
The Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 6.1 per cent and hit its lowest level since April 2003. That followed market slides in Asia and Europe, where the blue-chip Stoxx 50 index dropped 5 per cent in late trading as concerns set in about the outlook for the global economy and profits.
The International Monetary Fund has issued a very gloomy economic outlook for the United States and other developed nations. The multilateral financial body said that economic growth in the US will be close to zero or even negative for the next several months.
The IMF predicted that economic recovery in the United States will not begin until the second half of 2009, and will be more gradual than previous recoveries.
Image: The Wall Street sign outside the New York Stock Exchange. | Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
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