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Wall Street plunges on financial uncertainty

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-10 09:45

Wall Street plunged Wednesday on renewed worries about uncertainty of the financial sector and corporate earnings. The major indexes fell more than 2 percent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 230 points.

Investors worried that the mortgage finance companies will have to sell more shares than anticipated to compensate for losses from the housing slump. Shares of Merrill Lynch dropped as Fitch Ratings put its long-term credit default rating on watch for a possible downgrade.

Meanwhile, the weak outlook of corporate earnings also make investors keep away from the markets.

The US largest Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc Tuesday said its second-quarter earnings fell nearly 24 percent as higher prices failed to offset raw material and facility outage costs.

The Dow Jones average fell 236.77, or 2.08 percent, to 11,147. 44. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 29.01, or 2.28 percent, to 1,244.69, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 59.55, or 2.60 percent, to 2,234.89.