Dow falls on gloomy World Bank forecast

It today predicted an almost 3% worldwide contraction for 2009, compared to a previous estimate of just 1.7%. Mining stocks Alcoa and Caterpillar were the hardest hit stocks on the New York blue chip index, down 5% to $10.45 and 2.47% to $32.82 respectively. Company gains were scarce, with technology giants Intel the biggest winner, up just 0.45% to $16.08. The FTSE 100 continued to decline throughout the day, now 81 points lower (1.9%) to 4,263. UK miners continued to struggle, with Vedanta Resources and Kazakhmys joining Fresnillo and Lonmin among the five biggest losers on the in...