Stocks down at midday

NEW YORK - Stock prices were broadly lower at midday on Wall Street, although off the early lows.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 260 points at 8,431. Decliners on the New York Stock Exchange held a 5-to-1 lead over advancers.

The Nasdaq Composite Index had lost 37 points at 1,566.

And the Standard-and Poor's 500 Stock Index was down 25 points at 882.
Trading on the New York Stock Exchange during the first two hours totaled 2.3 billion shares. Volume on the Nasdaq Market came to 928 million shares.

Wall Street's showing so far hasn't been as bad as seen overseas, but the session still has a long way to go.

Japan's benchmark average lost more than 9 percent of its value, and declines of 6 percent were seen in Europe.

Investors appear to be betting on a long, deep recession. Earlier today, the British government said GDP contracted 0.5 percent in the third quarter.

Weighing on the stock market, big hedge funds and other institutional investors have been pulling out their money to reduce risk and raise cash.

Before the opening bell, futures contracts for the Dow and the S&P 500 fell so much they triggered ``circuit breakers.''

The final hour of trading is a crucial period as well. In the past few weeks, some of the market's biggest moves have come in the last 30 minutes of the session.