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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:42 p.m., Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Stocks zigzag, end lower after emergency rate cut

By JOE BEL BRUNO and TIM PARADIS
Associated Press Business Writers

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Traders gather at the post that handles Bank of America on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange today. Wall Street extended its huge decline today as an emergency interest rate cut failed to alleviate investors' fears that the paralysis in the credit markets will set off a global recession.

RICHARD DREW | Associated Press

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

A man walks past a screen showing the European stock markets fall in Paris Wednesday. The Paris stock exchange briefly suspended calculating the benchmark CAC-40 index on Wednesday amid a massive influx of sell orders that caused it to plummet nearly 8.2 percent, an exchange spokeswoman said.

THIBAULT CAMUS | Associated Press

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Kuwaiti traders follow the Stock Exchange downturn in Kuwait on Wednesday. Kuwait's official news agency says the country's central bank has cut the discount rate by 1.25 percent to 4.5 percent to increase liquidity and boost confidence in the falling stock market.

GUSTAVO FERRARI | Associated Press

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

An Indonesian trader reacts on the trading floor of the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta, Indonesia Wednesday. Indonesia's benchmark stock index plunged 10 percent Wednesday on fears about the global financial crisis, prompting officials to halt trading.

ACHMAD IBRAHIM | Associated Press

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

A large screen shows the falling Korean benchmark stock index as a South Korean investor watches a stock price board at the Korea Stock Exchange in Seoul, South Korea Wednesday. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 5.81 percent, or 79.41 point, to close at 1,286.69.

AHN YOUNG-JOON | Associated Press

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NEW YORK — An angst-ridden Wall Street tried but failed to find stability today, with investors trying to determine whether an emergency interest rate cut would end the paralysis in credit markets.

The major indexes moved in and out of positive territory, before turning sharply lower in late trading and leaving the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 190 points.

The Federal Reserve and other leading central banks cut rates in the hope that credit markets would soon relax and that banks would begin lending more freely to businesses and consumers.

The Fed lowered rates by a half-point, saying in a statement that the turmoil in financial markets posed a further threat to an already shaky economy; it was joined in the rate cut by the European Central Bank, Bank of England, The Bank of Canada, the Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank.

But interest rate changes take months to work their way through the economy, and while investors clearly were happy with the central banks' actions, they were also well aware that in the near term, banks remain reluctant to lend because of fears they won't be paid back.

"Everyone's kind of scratching their heads," said Jim Herrick, manager of equity trading at Baird & Co. "It's certainly disconcerting for investors and the overall marketplace."

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 189.01, or 2 percent, at 9,258.10.

Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 11.29, or 1.13 percent, to 984.94, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 14.55, or 0.83 percent, to 1,740.33.