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US stocks mixed after Fed's aggressive rates cut

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-30 09:53

A trader watches as a television screen displays the news that the Federal Reserve has slashed a key interest rate by half a percentage point on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange October 29, 2008. [Agencies]

The Dow was up as much as 298 points in the last quarter hour of the session, giving it a two-day gain of more than 1,187 points, when it began to slide. It closed down 74.16, or 0.82 percent, at 8,990.96. During the 21 trading days so far this month, the Dow has logged gains or losses of fewer than 100 points only twice -- on Oct. 1 and Oct. 14; the month has seen unprecedented volatility, with the blue chips recording their largest ever advance, 936 points, and their largest ever decline, 778 points.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The S&P 500 index fell 10.42, or 1.11 percent, to 930.09, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index advanced 7.74, or 0.47 percent, to 1,657.21.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume totaled 7.01 billion shares compared with 6.93 billion shares traded Tuesday.

Some traders expressed frustration at the market's finish.

"You cannot have moves like this and have any sort of investor confidence," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading LLC.

The credit markets had a lukewarm response to the Fed move. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.58 percent from 0.74 percent Tuesday. A drop in yield indicates an increase in demand. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.86 percent from 3.84 percent late Tuesday.

Light, sweet crude rose $4.77 to settle at $67.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the dollar fell against other major currencies. With many commodities priced in dollars a weaker greenback makes prices rise.

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