MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Close Sharply Lower To End With Monthly Declines

February 29, 2008: 05:04 PM EST CNN

U.S. stocks plunged on Friday, ending the week and the month on a losing note after losses by American International Group Inc. shook up Wall Street and poor results from Dell Inc. rocked the tech sector.

"We had a trainload of bad news; they couldn't keep the bad news coming fast enough," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 315.79 points to 12,266.39, giving the blue-chip gauge a weekly loss of 0.9%. The Dow fell 3% in February, and is down 7.5% for the year to date.

All of the Dow's 30 components spent the final day of February in the red. Pacing the action was AIG (AIG), off more than 7% after the insurance giant reported the largest loss in its almost 90 years in business. .

"It will be interesting to see what happens next week, since we're in for the same combination of bad economic data and bad corporate news -- that's what happens when you have an economic slowdown," Hogan said.

Other financial stocks were hit as well, with shares of Ambac Inc. (ABK) down 5.6% on reports that a plan to provide the firm with new capital has hit a snag.

Outside the Dow industrials, Dell Inc. (DELL) fell 4.7% after the PC maker reported fourth-quarter profits fell 6% from a year ago.

The S&P 500 (SPX) dropped 37.05 points to 1,330.63, down 1.7% for the week; 3.5% for the month and 9.4% year-to-date.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) declined 60.99 points to 2, 271.48, a drop of 1.4% on the week; a 5% decline for February and 14% so far this year.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.7 billion, with nearly seven stocks posting losses for each share on the rise. On the Nasdaq, nearly 1.2 billion shares traded hands, with decliners stocks topping those advancing more than 4 to 1.

Sector snap

Often isolated from the carnage of late, the tech sector joined the suffering this time, with declines coming from bellwethers including Hewlett-Packard Co. ( HPQ) and IBM Corp. (IBM). .

Retail stocks also slipped amid gloomy news on consumer spending, with the S&P Retail Index (RLX) off about 3.3%. .

Gold futures finished with gains, having hit a record high of $978.50 an ounce overnight, as the metal continues to draw support from weakness in the U.S. dollar and rising investment flows into commodities. Gold for April delivery ended up $7.50 at $975 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold posted a weekly gain of $27.20 from last Friday's closing level of $947.80. .

Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude-oil futures hit a record high of $103.05 overnight before trimming gains to end at $101.84 a barrel. .

The dollar pared its losses after dropping to three-year lows against the yen, with the greenback buying 103.79 yen after an earlier fall as low as 103.81 yen -- the first time the pair fell below the 104 level since March 2005 -- compared with 105.33 yen in late U.S. trade Thursday. .

Downbeat data

The stock indexes steepened their losses on a decline in consumer sentiment in February, with more households reporting financial distress than anytime since the worst of the 1991 recession. .

The sentiment data coincided with a survey of manufacturing and sector activity in the Chicago area, which fell to 44.5 in February, "indicating a contraction in the economy in the region," said Drew Matus, a Lehman Bros. economist.

The Commerce Department reported consumer spending climbed more than predicted in January, with the 0.4% hike in buying illustrating an increase in costs that is denting Americans' purchasing power. .

"Today's data on personal spending showed a fairly good gain of 0.4%, but the gain was eaten up fully by higher prices," Tony Crescenzi, a bond analyst with Miller Tabak & Co., wrote in a research note to clients.

"The Federal Reserve certainly won't be pleased with the 0.3% rise in core consumer prices in today's report, but we have seen from the Fed continued emphasis on growth risks, which for now reduces the importance of the inflation news from a monetary policy perspective," Crescenzi added.

Active issues

Friday's most active stocks included MF Global Ltd. (MF), down more than 17% in a second day of steep losses amid ongoing fallout from the broker's disclosure of a $140 million loss on unauthorized trades in wheat futures.

Shares of 3Com Corp. (COMS) ended more than 13% higher, with the networker gaining on news that work continues on securing the sale of the company to a U.S. investment firm and its Chinese partner. .

The Gap Inc. (GPS) gained almost 4%. The country's largest clothing chain reported fourth-quarter profits climbed 21%.

In overseas trading, British shares pulled lower on losses for banks and airlines. .

In Asia, stocks fell, with Japanese stocks under pressure and Australia's market hit on weakness in financials. .