US stocks skid on fresh eurozone fears
NEW YORK: US stocks fell hard Friday as fresh concerns about eurozone financial stability, this time focusing on Italy, unnerved investors already rattled by the Greek debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 115.42 points (0.96 percent) to close at 11,934.58.
The broader S&P 500 dropped 15.05 points (1.17 percent) to 1,268.45, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 33.86 points (1.26 percent) to close at 2,652.89.
Investors were shaken when Italian bank stocks fell suddenly on warnings of a possible downgrade by Moody's and yields on Italian government bonds surged, sparking fear that the eurozone's debt troubles could be spreading.
Underscoring the concerns about Italy's fiscal weakness, the spread between Italian and German 10-year bonds hit 212 basis points -- their highest level since the creation of the euro.
The fresh jitters from Italy, combined with ongoing worries about whether Greece can avoid a potentially destabilizing default, overshadowed upbeat economic reports from the United States, analysts said.
"It's all about Greece," said Peter Cardillo of Avalon Partners. "We had some good economic numbers but the focus remains on the Greek situation."
In the United States, orders for manufactured durable goods rose 1.9 percent in May, rebounding from a sharp decline in April, the US Commerce Department said in a monthly report.
The US government also revised its final figure for first-quarter economic growth to 1.9 percent, up from its earlier estimate of 1.8 percent.
Google fell 1.1 percent after the Internet search giant confirmed it was being targeted in an antitrust probe, which was first reported on Thursday. Google shares have dropped 2.5 percent since Wednesday.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell to 2.87 percent from 2.91 percent Thursday, while that on the 30-year bond edged up to 4.17 percent from 4.16 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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