Business news with words assassination+commerce+department. 7 news.

STOCKS finished an erratic week narrowly mixed yesterday after a government report of a steep decline in new home sales stirred concerns that weakness in housing will continue to dog the economy. The Commerce Department report that new home sales fell 9 percent from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 647,000 triggered renewed nervousness that consumers could become uneasy and tamp down their spending. Stocks, which fell more than 1 percent Thursday following unwelcome economic readings and the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, fluctuated through the day yesterday. The Chicago purchasing managers' index had for a time offered some support to investor sentiment yesterday after it showed a stronger-than-expected increase for December manufacturing activity in the Midwest. But Wall Street appeared unable to hold onto its enthusiasm for too long. Investors are eager for any economic data that can help illuminate whether weakness in the

Stocks fell Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and after the Commerce Department ...

Wall Street skidded Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and after the Commerce Department's durable-goods...

Wall Street skidded Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and after the Commerce Department's durable goods orders exacerbated concerns about the U.S. economy.

WALL Street skidded yesterday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and after the Commerce Department's durable goods orders exacerbated concerns about the US economy. The major indexes each lost well over 1 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average fell 192 points. Bhutto's assassination raised the possibility of increasing political unrest abroad, always an unsettling prospect for investors who have already been contending with domestic economic concerns for months. Oil prices rose following the news, and that unwelcome inflationary trend only added to Wall Street's uneasiness. Meanwhile, the government said orders for durable goods, big-ticket items from commercial jetliners to home appliances, rose by just 0.1 percent last month. Economists had been looking for a rise of 2.2 percent. Still, November saw the first rise in durable goods orders in the last four months. The Labor Department said the number of workers seeking unemployment

NEW YORK, Dec. 27 -- Wall Street skidded Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and the Commerce Department's report on durable goods orders exacerbated concerns about the economy. The major indicators each lost well over 1 percent.

NEW YORK -- Wall Street skidded Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and after the Commerce Department's durable goods orders exacerbated concerns about the U.S. economy. The major indexes each lost well over 1 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average fell 192 points.