| Anxiety of Europe Deals Blow to Stocks on Wall Street |
| Apr-23-2012 |
| Keywords: europe, stocks, fall, wall street, france, econmic contraction, the netherlands, sarkozy |
Stocks bleeding off most of last week's gains on Wall Street as political and economic issues in Europe weigh on investor enthusiasm.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opening the week with a triple-digit loss. The shares of Walmart tumbling more than 4% as executives at the company's Mexico subsidiary face allegations of bribery. Kellogg's stock price weighing on the broader market after the company cut its full-year sales and profit forecast.
Market participants today also reacting to a number of concerning economic headlines from across the globe. A key gauges of economic activity in the European Union contracted at the swiftest pace in five months in April. The measure came in at 47.4, down from 49.1 in March. Germany, Europe's powerhouse economy, saw activity in its manufacturing sector contract at a the steepest pace in 33 months. Meanwhile, France's key service-sector activity slumped to a six-month low.
Those headlines igniting a wave of safe haven buying in the dollar and U.S. Treasuries. The yield on the 10-year dropped 0.039-percentage point to 1.926% as a result, briefly touching a two-month low.
European growth concerns combined with a strengthening dollar help to drive crude oil prices lower. The June Crude Oil futures contract falling about 1.5% - trading near $102 a barrel.
More on today's market action: Stocks Pummeled as Euro Anxiety Swells |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 10:00 AM Email to a friend |
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