Monday saw a sigh of relief when Wall Street closed. Despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting by 400 points during the day, it managed to close only 45 points down which equates to a loss of around 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 managed the unexpected by close of play and actually ended with a gain of just over 0.5%. President Bush addressed the nation, stating that the economic fundamentals of the nation were sound. Nevertheless, consumer confidence data was worse than expected.
Tuesday saw the Dow Jones end in the red again, majorly down to profit warnings from Caterpillar and Intel. By close of play the index had fallen just short of 2%, the highest fall of its seven in the red. The Nasdaq 100 could not manage another day in the black, falling 1% by the close. Part of this was down to profit warnings from Intel who also announced 4,000 job losses. Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve gave the same speech as President Bush had yesterday but also added that the current lack of faith in corporate America is hindering the full growth potential.
Wednesday saw a breakthrough for the Dow Jones - it managed to end in the black after seven straight days of losses and in the red. For a change, there was positive profit news released by some of the big players, such as Boeing, Citigroup and United Technologies. By close of play the Dow Jones was up by just short of 1%. Not to be outdone, the Nasdaq 100 managed a gain at the close of just short of 2%. Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve highlighted plans to make every chief executive of corporations in America certify the accuracy of financial statements. He felt that this should solve the accounting problems and return investor confidence.
By the close on Thursday, Wednesday's gains seemed miles away. Following less than positive remarks and lower than expected profits, together with a mix of economic data, investors were confused and the markets in turmoil. The Dow Jones ended the day down by just short of 2%. The Nasdaq 100 fared even worse as most of the bad news was technology based. The index closed down, just short of 3.5%. Unemployment had reduced but regional manufacturing had sharply fallen.
Friday saw the Dow Jones plunge into the red and lower than the levels seen after the tragedy of September 11. In the same move as Monday this week with investors selling heavily, the Dow Jones fell by just short of 400 points to a level not seen since mid to late 1998. By close of play the index had lost just over 4.5%. Poor news from the technology and telecommunications sectors did not help matters for the Nasdaq 100 and aided its slide by almost 3%.