US stocks suffered significant declines Wednesday, after the second-largest US package company FedEx reported a loss and a financial analyst warned of more credit crisis writedowns.
FedEx reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of 241 million dollars. The company had posted a 610-million-dollar profit in the year-earlier period, the dpa reported.
Investor John Paulson, the founder of prominent hedge fund company Paulson & Co, forecast that writedowns of mortgage-related assets at financial institutions could reach 1.3 trillion dollars - three times what has been reported to date and above an International Monetary Fund estimate of 1 trillion dollars made earlier this year.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 131.24 points, or 1.08 per cent, to 12,029.06. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was down 13.12 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 1,337.81. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 28.02 points, or 1.14 per cent, to 2,429.71.
The US currency declined against the euro to 64.39 euro cents from 64.49 euro cents on Tuesday and against the Japanese currency to 107.84 yen from 107.98 yen.
Gold rose 6.60 dollars to 893.50 dollars per fine ounce.