Dow falls below 9,000

Gains by European exchanges propelled the Dow to start on an up note Thursday morning, but by the close of trading it had fallen 678.91 points to 8,579.19, the lowest it's been in about five years.

Nasdaq fell 95.21 points to 1,645.12.

The S&P 500 dipped 75 to 909.94.

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The Dow has suffered six straight days of losses, despite a bailout package in which the government will acquire $700 billion in bad mortgages and an international effort to cut interest rates.