The stocks of Hawai'i's publicly traded companies mostly fell today, though most did not sustain the dramatic plunge seen in the broader stock market.

The Honolulu Advertiser-Bloomberg Index of local company stocks fell by 2.9 percent today, much less than the 7 percent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the 9.1 percent slide in the Nasdaq Composite Index. Bloomberg News reported the Dow encountered its biggest point drop ever, though on a percentage basis it was less than the October 1987 crash.

Eight of the 11 issues in the Advertiser-Bloomberg index fell, lead by 9.6 percent decline in shares of Hoku Scientific and an 8.9 percent drop in Barnwell Industries shares.

Two local issues rose for the day, with Cyanotech Corp. rising 3.5 percent and Hawaiian Electric Industries up 1.6 percent. One issue, Mera Pharmaceuticals was unchanged.