| European Debt Crisis Pushes Dow to February Lows |
| May-14-2012 |
| Keywords: stocks, greece, europe, debt crisis, jp morgan chase |
Europe's debt crisis rattles U.S. investors, pushing the Dow and the S&P 500 to the lowest levels in more than three months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average today dropped 125 points to 12695. The blue chip index now down in eight of the last nine trading sessions - and is off more than 580-pts or just about 4.5% since May 2, 2102. S&P 500 dipped 15 points, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 31 points, barely holding onto the 2900 level.
Selling was broad-based on the day. The S&P 500 closed at its lowest level since February, while oil settled at its lowest value of 2012. Every one of the 10 S&P 500 sectors was to the downside.
Energy and financial shares suffered some of the steepest losses. JPMorgan Chase fell 3.17% and was the worst performing blue chip after it announced the retirement of Ina Drew, who has been at the firm for more than 30 years and heads the division responsible for the $2 billion trading loss.
Safe-haven triggered big gains in U.S. Treasury bonds. The yield on the 10-year fell 0.053-percentage point to 1.79%.
A fractured Greek parliament among the biggest contributors to investor anxiety here in the U.S. and across the Atlantic. Stocks in the United Kingdom, France and Germany fell 2% on the day. Greek political party leaders thus far unable to establish a coalition government, putting into jeopardy the county's membership in the European Union.
The worry among market players is that if a consensus can't be struck, the country's bailout package, and membership in the Euro-zone, will hang in the balance.
Also on the European front, Spain saw its yields rise at a short-term debt auction on Monday from a previous debt sale. The offering did meet strong demand, but the rising borrowing costs have increased fears that it will be the next country to be hit by the debt crisis.
Commodities took a hit across the board as well. Oil traded in New York tumbled $1.35, to settle at $94.78 a barrel. That's the lowest closing price for the front month crude contract since December of last year. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 4:00 PM Email to a friend |
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