Stocks end lower after emergency rate cut

Published Thursday, October 9, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - A stock market empowered by an emergency interest rate cut tried to find some stability yesterday, rallying several times before another late-day drop left Wall Street down for the sixth straight day. Still, the pullback, while fed by comments from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, was milder than the massive declines of earlier in the week.

Trading was erratic right from the opening bell, after the Federal Reserve and other leading central banks cut rates in the hope that credit markets would soon relax and that banks would begin lending more freely to businesses and consumers.

Investors had been hankering for a rate cut, and they were clearly happy with the central banks’ actions. However, they were also aware that in the near term, the credit markets remain tied up because banks are reluctant to lend.

Declining issues outpaced advancers on the New York Stock Exchange by about 3-to-1, while consolidated volume to a very heavy 8.54 billion shares, compared with 6.84 billion traded Tuesday.