31.   Auto executives and dealers blame the slowdown on fairly high interest rates and the steep descent of the Nasdaq composite stock index.

32.   Bank stocks, including Banque Nationale De Paris, Dresdner Bank and Banco Popular Espanol, led European stock indexes higher, cheered by the German rate cut.

33.   Barings was forced into bankruptcy after a Singapore trader lost billions trading Nikkei stock index futures.

34.   Because of the way most stock indexes are constructed, funds that mimic them have heavier weightings in some sectors than in others.

35.   Benchmark stock indexes also climbed in South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

36.   Benchmark stock indexes fell more than one-half percent in the U.K. Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

37.   Benchmark stock indexes notched gains in London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Zurich, pacing gains in their respective bond markets.

38.   Beneath the surface appearance of the stock indexes, the overall stock market looked troubled, analysts said.

39.   Biotech stock indexes lost more than a third of their value in March and, despite a brief uptick or two, seemed to be trending slowly downward.

40.   Benchmark stock indexes in Hong Kong and Korea slid.