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Wall Street modestly lower after big global selloff

21 Nov 2008 1:58 AM

US stocks extended losses at Thursday's opening .. as more weak economicdata kept the mood sombre a day after the main indexes plunged to five-and-a-half-year lows.

The opening losses were modest .. however .. after a global rout that saw aslide of 6.89 per cent in Tokyo and hefty declines in Europe.

In the first trades on Wall Street .. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell48.83 points .. or 0.61 per cent to 7,948.45 .. after Wednesday's 427-point slide.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 5.80 points .. or 0.42 per cent .. to 1,380.62 .. and the Standard and Poor's 500 index dipped 5.31 points .. or 0.66 per cent to 801.27.

The latest economic news remained grim as the US Labor Department said new claims for unemployment benefits jumped to a 16-year high of 542,000.

AAP RTV apmpsm

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