Market Report - New York

Stocks fell sharply in New York yesterday, with another rocky day on Asian markets and another dire forecast from the technology…

Stocks fell sharply in New York yesterday, with another rocky day on Asian markets and another dire forecast from the technology group overshadowing a tame inflation report.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 99.65 points - or 1.26 per cent - to 7,802.62.

For the second straight day, US investors woke up to unsettling developments in South-east Asia, this time in Indonesia, where the currency lost more than one-fourth of its value and the stock market dropped 12 per cent. Wild rumours gripped that country, prompting panic-buying at supermarkets.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,125 up, 1,891 down and 452 unchanged. NYSE volume was extremely heavy again, totalling 651 million shares - the second straight session above 650 million and the fourth straight above 600 million.