Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 245 stocks increased, 250 declined, and 5 were unchanged. Of the stocks in the index, 36 stocks fell more than 3% and 15 gained more than 3%.

Wachovia Corp led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 9.6% followed by losses in First Horizon of 9.3%, in E*Trade of 8.5%, in National City Corp of 8.1%, and in Fifth Third Banc of 7.2%. SunTrust, Huntington Banc, Zions Bancorp and Regions fell more than 5%.

Hess Corp led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 10% followed by increases in Noble Corp of 4.9%, in Transocean of 4.7%, in Consol Energy of 4.8%, and in Murphy Oil of 4.7%.

South American Markets Indexes

Brazil led the decliners in South American trading with a loss of 1.38% followed by decreases in Colombia of 0.95%, in Argentina of 0.90%, and in Mexico of 0.73%. Venezuela fell 0.35% and Chile gained 0.5%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 406.22 or 3.05% to 12,917.51, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 856.59 or 3.47% closed to 23,811.20. In Australia ASX 200 index lower 96.90 or 1.78% to close 5,342.40. In Malaysia KL Composite index decreased 13.36 or 1.07% closed to 1,233.43.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 33.00 or 1.85% to close at 1,746.71, Indonesia JSE Index edged decreased 31.45 or 1.37% to 2,272.48. Market of Thailand and India were closed today.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $1.66 to close at $111.80 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 17 cent to $10.07 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 1.42 cents to close at 282.15 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $1.70 in New York trading to close at $928.70 per ounce, silver closed up $0.10 cents to $17.69 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery decreased 4.80 cents to $3.89 per pound.

Wheat futures increased 1 cent in Chicago trading and closed at $9.105 per bushel. Sugar increased 17.00 cent to $13.11 per pound. Soybean future closed up 40 cents to $13.89 a bushel.

Dollar edged higher and traded near a record low against euro to $1.5804 and edged higher against yen to 101.08.

Yields on U.S. bonds increased to 3.50% on 10-year bonds and rose on 30-year bonds to 4.29%.