Wall Street In Worst Quarterly Slump Since 2002

New York, NY (AHN) - Stocks on Wall Street suffered their largest quarterly loss since the third quarter of 2002 as weaker sales forecast from department store chain J.C. Penney Co. and further bank writedowns pulled down two of the three major indices at the end of Friday's trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 1.1 percent from last week's closing with a 75-point decline and 12,227-point finish. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed 0.3 percent better than last week shedding only 15 points to close at 2,266 points. The S&P 500 Index was 10 points lower at 1,316, one percent down from its standing a week ago.

J.C. Penney and Citigroup Inc. led S&P 500 losers. The third-largest department store chain in the U.S. fell 7.5 percent or $3.04 to $37.48 after it slashed first quarter earnings by 33 percent on slow sales. Other losing retailers were Target Corp., Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc.

Citigroup shed 4.4 percent or $0.96 cents to close at $20.83 after the largest U.S. bank announced a lower annual dividend. Also slipping were Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the surge of crude-oil futures ended as prices of May delivery fell $2.05 to $105.53 a barrel.

Gold contract for April delivery fell $22.20 or 1.9 percent to $930.60.