Nov. 1--The Asbury Park Press/Bloomberg 75 index fell nearly 4 percent last week as stocks such as Gannett Co. Inc. and OceanFirst Financial Corp. saw declines.

The index, made of 75 companies either based at the Shore or with a significant presence in New Jersey, closed at 102.65 on Friday, down 4.04, or 3.79 percent. The index has gained 6.62 percent this year.

Sixty-three companies declined and 12 gained.

The company that saw the highest percentage decline last week was Gannett Co. Inc., the owner of the Asbury Park Press, which closed at $9.82, down $3.40, or 25.7 percent.

Other top decliners included Toms River-based OceanFirst Financial Corp., $9.50, down $2.56, or 21.2 percent; Alcatel-Lucent SA, $3.69, down 87 cents, or 19.2 percent; Avis Budget Group, $8.40, down $1.97, or 19 percent; Ocean-based Central Jersey Bancorp, $4.85, down 80 cents, or 14.2 percent and Opnext Inc., $2.46, down 37 cents, or 13.1 percent.

Last week, OceanFirst Financial Corp., the parent company of OceanFirst Bank, said it plans to sell about $50 million of common stock and use part of the proceeds to buy back stock it sold to the federal government nearly a year ago.

It has applied to the U.S. Treasury Department to repurchase the $38.8 million in shares it sold the department last November as part of the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

On Friday, Alcatel-Lucent SA, which has its U.S. headquarters in Murray Hill, said its net loss widened in the third quarter as European phone companies, its key customers, cut back on spending.

The company said losses reached 182 million pounds ($269 million) in the period. That was more than the 40 million pounds it lost a year earlier and worse than analysts had forecast.

Companies that saw the largest percentage gains last week were Holmdel-based Vonage Holdings Corp., $1.58, up 13 cents, or 8.97 percent; The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., $9.91, up 60 cents, or 6.44 percent; Church & Dwight Co. Inc., $56.88, up $1.49, or 2.69 percent; Investors Bancorp Inc., $10.84, up 28 cents, or 2.65 percent; and Verizon Communications, $29.59, up 74 cents, or 2.56 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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