Dow Drops 684 Points; Closes Below 9,000

A poignant ceremony to re-open the New York Stock Exchange gave way a 684-point decline in the Dow Jones index (^DJI), pushing it below the 9,000 mark for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years.

Following the single largest one-day point drop, the Dow closed at 8,920.70. However, analysts told the Associated Press that it could have been worse, and in percentage terms it was only a third as big as the 1987 crash.

The Nasdaq (NASDAQ) composite index fell 115.83 to 1,579.55 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 53.77 at 1,038.77.

Prior to the start of trading, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half-point in an attempt to boost the economy and the market's confidence. The markets had been closed since Sept. 11, when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were both attacked with hijacked passenger airplanes.

Major investors like Warren Buffet and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia said they were expecting the markets to move lower, but told news services that they would not be selling.

Prince Alwaleed told CNBC that if he were to do anything in the market it would be buying.

Before trading began, the exchange observed two minutes of silence followed by a singing of “God Bless America.” Then, representatives from the public safety organizations involved in the World Trade Center rescue effort, joined to ring the bell opening the market for trading.

Analysts had expected a heavy sell off in initial trading because of the already brittle condition of the U.S. economy before the attacks, according to AP.