Dow Dops 47 in Late Sell-Off: Greenspan Remarks Hit Bonds Hard
NEW YORK, Jan. 29ÛÓWall Street investors, worried by comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that no new interest rate cuts are in the offing, sent stocks plummeting today after a midday rally of 27 points was cut short by a tumble in the Treasury bond market.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 47.18 points at 3224.96, its biggest fall since losing 120.31 points on Nov. 15. The blue-chip index closed at a record 3272.14 on Tuesday.</br></br>Losing stocks outpaced those that gained by nearly 2 to 1 on active volume of 249 million shares onthe New York Stock Exchange.</br></br>Greenspan told the Senate Banking Committee that he expects the economy to pick up in the spring and that nothing needed to be done now to get the economy moving, either on the fiscal or the monetary policy front.</br></br>The bond market, higher early in the session as traders reacted favorably to President BushÛªs new budget and tax proposals, took a sudden turn for the worse after Greenspan began testifying.