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NEW YORK - WALL Street shares plunged at the open Friday amid a worldwide stock meltdown, as panic selling spread around the globe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, following seven brutal losing sessions, fell briefly below 8,000 points at the opening or nearly 700 points before a sharp rebound.
After 15 minutes, the blue-chip index was down 152.61 points (1.78 per cent) at 8,426.58. Other indexes also pared heavy opening losses.
The Nasdaq was down 11.74 points (0.71 per cent) to 1,633.38 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 15.28 points (1.68 per cent) to 894.64.
Market action came as world finance chiefs were preparing an emergency meeting in Washington as a wave of panic selling swept across markets.
Interest rate cuts and billions of dollars' worth of cash injections by central banks failed to calm the mayhem.
'The crisis is now self-reinforcing and shows no signs of abating,' said Mr Chris Lafakis at Economy.com. -- AFP
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