U.S. Futures limit down, markets face sell-off
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October 24th, 2008
U.S. stock markets faced steep declines at Friday’s opening bell after growing fears of a global recession pummeled overseas markets and trading curbs limited stock futures trading.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 60 points to 855.20, the “limit down” for the contract by 5:33 a.m. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 550 points, reaching its limit down of 8224 by 6:06 a.m. Market officials said the 6 percent limit down trading curb would not allow the contracts to decline further until the Wall Street opening at 9:30 a.m. Nasdaq 100 futures reached their limit down of 84.75 points, or 6.8 percent, to 1168.50 at 6:55 a.m.
Investors in Asia and Europe were rattled by depressing economic news Friday. Sony slashed its earnings forecast and Toyota posted its first quarterly sales decline in seven years. The British economy shrank for the first time since 2002.
European stock markets posted hefty losses. At 6:36 a.m. the FTSE 100 Index was down 277 points, or 6.8 percent, to 3811 on the London Stock Exchange. The Dax Index dropped 375 points, or 8.3 percent, to 4145 on the Frankfort Stock Exchange.
Overnight, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 812 points, or 9.6 percent, to 7649 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
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