US stocks down amid hurricane blues
Wall Street finished a difficult week lower today as investors, restrained by uncertainty about the economic impact of Hurricane Katrina, had little reaction to a sharp decline in oil prices and a drop in unemployment.
The market fluctuated on news that US unemployment reached a four-year low, and as energy prices retreated on signs that allied nations would help cushion a US oil shortage. The numbers were shadowed by fears that Katrina’s widespread devastation of the Gulf coast will trigger a sharp economic downturn.
