Near Two Harbors, 34 structures burned and Highway 61 closed; in Crow Wing County, a 1,600-acre fire sparked evacuations

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Stocks closed sharply lower as investors were
beset with a barrage of bad news.


      The Dow Jones industrial average finished with a loss of 358
points at 11,453. Declining issues on the New York Stock Exchange
led gainers better than 5-to-1 on volume of about 4.9 billion
shares. 

The Nasdaq composite index was down nearly 80 points at the
2,321 level, with roughly 2.2 billion shares traded. And the S&P
500 dropped almost 39 points, closing at 1,283.

      Among the issues that dogged the market today were another surge
in oil prices and warnings of trouble in the key financial,
automotive and high-tech industries.


      Oil futures closed at an all-time high and General Motors shares
plummeted to their lowest level in more than 30 years following
negative comments from analysts.


      Citigroup fell sharply after an analyst placed a "sell" rating
on the stock, while disappointing outlooks from technology leaders
Oracle Corporation and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion made the
tech sector one of the steepest decliners.

Gallery

Business and Economic News

Major U.S. indices shed 3 percent on news of surging oil prices and new warnings of trouble in the financial sector.

Dow drops more than 350 points

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