Asian Turmoil Halts Stock Market Rebound
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 113 points on Monday amid fears that the Tokyo Stock Exchange, handcuffed by a three-day weekend, will drop sharply on news of the collapse of a major Japanese brokerage.
Technology and banking stocks, considered most vulnerable to the economic crisis in Asia, gave back the biggest chunk of last week’s rally, which had put some market averages within reach of record terrain.
IBM and J.P. Morgan, for example, were the biggest decliners in the Dow, which fell 113.15 to 7,767.92, surrendering more than a third of last week’s 308-point gain.
“The market was a little too bold last week,” said Henry Herrmann, chief investment officer at Waddell & Reed of Overland Park, Kan. “A little more sober view (of the economic instability abroad) is appropriate.”
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by nearly a 3-to-1 margin on the NYSE, with 770 up, 2,189 down and 488 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 513.99 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 592.04 million on Friday.
Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday:
NYSE
Albertson’s, up 3-3/4 to 41-7/8.
The drug and grocery retailers beat analyst expectations with its third-quarter results. Albertson’s, based in Boise, earned $123.4 million on about $3.6 billion in sales.
Florida East Coast Industries, down 17-1/2 at 93.
St. Joe Corp. withdrew its offer to buy the remaining 46 percent of Florida East Coast, owner of Florida East Coast Railroad, for $102 a share, or $428 million. St. Joe, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is Florida’s top private landowner.
General Host, up 1-7/8 at 5-5/16.
Cypress Group agreed to acquire the garden products and crafts retailer for about $320 million, including assumed debt. New York-based Cypress will pay $5.50 a share for each share of General Host, which is based in Stamford, Conn.
Mapco, up 5-5/16 at 43-7/16.
Williams Cos., operator of the nation’s largest natural gas pipeline, is buying the propane retailer for $2.7 billion in stock. Each share of Mapco is to be swapped for 0.8325 of a Williams share.
Korea Fund, down 3/4 at 6-13/16.
Korea Electric, down 1-1/8 at 8-1/4.
Korea Equity Fund, down 3/8 at 3-5/16.
SK Telecom, down 5/16 at 5-15/16.
The Korea Stock Exchange plunged 7.2 percent to its lowest level in 10 years as the International Monetary Fund began assembling South Korea’s bailout package. Analysts said investors are worried that South Korea’s economy would remain shaky despite the IMF bailout.