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Mass. Stocks Hit Hard In Wall Street Dive

Massachusetts stocks were among those that took a beating on Wall Street Monday.

An index of Massachusetts company stocks fell 7.6 percent. That’s a bigger relative drop than the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average Monday.

Investors worried about a returning recession were selling off their positions and moving to blue-chip companies, known consumer brands — companies seen as safer investments. What they moved away from were clean-energy companies, biotech research companies — companies that are perceived as more risky. And those happen to many Massachusetts stocks.

"Clearly, people tend to gravitate toward more defensive type stocks in this environment," said Steve Johnson, a financial consultant for Charles Schwab in Chestnut Hill, who says Massachusetts stocks tend not to be seen as recession-proof.

Among the Bay State companies that took the biggest hits Monday: A123 Systems Inc.; Zoll Medical Corp.; and Acme Packet Inc.

This program aired on August 8, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Curt Nickisch

Curt Nickisch Business & Technology Reporter
Curt Nickisch was formerly WBUR's business and technology reporter.

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