Stocks fell sharply Thursday at the end of a holiday-shortened week, as a worse-than-expected U.S. employment report hurt hopes that the economy is close to stabilizing. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) extended trading for 15 minutes past the 4:00 p.m. close to allow customers to put through orders that were impacted by “system irregularities.” The NYSE did not specify what the irregularities were. U.S. employers cut a more-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, after cutting 322,000 the previous month. June was the first month in four months in which losses rose from the previous month. The national unemployment rate rose less than expected to 9.5 percent in June from 9.4 percent the previous month. In a separate report, U.S. factory orders rose more than expected in May. In company news, Exelon has increased its hostile takeover offer for rival power generator NRG Energy to $8 billion. Johnson & Johnson will take an 18 percent equity stake in biotechnology firm Elan in exchange for a $1 billion investment. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 223.32, or 2.6 percent, to 8,280.73. All 30 of the index's components fell, led by oil companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Other big losers included Wal-Mart, United Technologies, Boeing, and IBM and financial firms American Express and J.P. Morgan Chase. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 26.91, or 2.9 percent, to 896.42. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 49.20, or 2.7 percent, to 1,796.52. The NYSE composite index fell 178.77 to 5,775.24. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 26.32 to 1,567.05. And the Russell 2000 index fell 20.25 to 497.21.
