Wall St. lower as consumer confidence tumbles

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

NEW YORK (AFP) — Wall Street shares fell sharply Tuesday after a monthly survey showed US consumer confidence -- a key gauge of economic well-being -- tumbled amid a deepening housing market crisis.

At 1512 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down a hefty 122.50 points (0.92 percent) at 13,199.63.

The tech-packed Nasdaq composite was down 32.48 points (1.27 percent at 2,528.77 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 17.43 points (1.19 percent) to 1,449.36.

The losses accelerated after the Conference Board, a business research group, said its consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 105.0 in August from 111.9 in July.

The Conference Board attributed the decline to "softening" business and labor market conditions.

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