MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Industrials Tumble To Lowest Finish Since October 2002

By Kate Gibson

The U.S. stock market's fall on Thursday initially had investors steering clear of three-month intraday lows tested earlier in the week, with the bear-market bottom called by some in November holding -- yet the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at a more than six-year low.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) sunk 89.68 points, or 1.2%, to end at 7,465.95, with the blue-chip index ending at its lowest level since Oct. 9, 2002.

"I'm not a big support-resistance person, but 7,500 seems to be on everybody's mind; it's a perception problem," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer, Harris Private Bank.

A close below 7,500 would "worry a lot of armchair investors," Ablin said, ahead of the final bell.

The blue-chip index on Tuesday fell nearly 300 points to close at 7552.6, just 0.31 points shy of matching a 51/2-year low hit on Nov. 20, 2008.

Financials fronted Thursday's declines, with Hartford Financial Services (HIG) among the hard hit, its stock off nearly 25%.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) fell 9.48 points, or 1.2%, to 778.94, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) declined 25.15 points, or 1.7%, to stand at 1,442.82.

Nick Kalivas, an analyst with MF Global Research, said before the close that bearish-leaning sentiment would likely propel another broad-market run at November lows.

While the Dow and S&P broke their mid-January lows earlier in the week, the Nasdaq offered an encouraging sign by holding above its comparable level, said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.

"Investor resolve is clearly getting tested, although I would say that this is a balancing act between the fact that the economy is continuing to deteriorate, although no one anticipated a turnaround anytime soon, and the argument over the effectiveness of the stimuli being injected from every direction," he said.

"As February continues to wilt away, I am maintaining my thus-far-correct position that equities are not priced for a continuation of the severe economic contractions we've seen in the fourth quarter and first quarter," said Dan Greenhaus, an analyst with the equity strategy group at Miller Tabak & Co.

"We are, of course, going to overshoot on the downside, but my position at the end of last year remains the same as it does now, in the 700 range," Greenhaus said.