Hopes pinned on Carter after stocks collapse
NZPA-Reuter New York After one of the worst weeks in Wall Street’s history, nervous investors are hoping President Carter’s important speech on the economy tomorrow will restore some confidence to the market.
The Dow-Jones Average of leading industrial shares, generally regarded as one of the main measures of Wall Street’s health, tumbled by nearly 60 points last week—the biggest points plunge in the market’s history, including 1929.
The worst previous fall by the average was in November, 1973, when it fell by nearly 52 points during the first week of the Arab oil embargo.
Behind last week’s record decline was growing concern over high interest rates — already at record levels in some cases — and whether they will have to
go even higher before the explosive growth in the country’s money supply can be checked. President Carter will go on television tomorrow to announce new guidelines for wages and prices. Many investors apparently decided last week to trade their shares for cash in advance of the President’s speech, and this may have contributed to the drop in the Dow-Jones figure. The index closed on Friday at 838.01 after losing 59.08 points in the week. As recently as last month, the average hit its high mark for the year of 907.74. President Carter is expected to set specific guidelines on wages and prices in his speech tomorrow, and he may call for sanctions to enforce them. Some Administration officials have suggested that the programme will set a seven per cent ceiling on
wage increases and a 5.75 per cent ceiling on prices. But Wall Street investors — and labour leaders as well — have expressed scepticism that the programme will work in curbing inflation.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19781023.2.49.13
Bibliographic details
Press, 23 October 1978, Page 7
Word Count
287Hopes pinned on Carter after stocks collapse Press, 23 October 1978, Page 7
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.