US stocks slump

US stocks slumped in heavy volume to a 13-month low on Monday as investors dumped bank shares on fears that Greece's worsening financial crisis could cause a large European lender to fail. Investors pegged losses to the sharp fall in Franco-Belgian financial group Dexia, which fell 10 percent after a Moody's warning about its liquidity due to concerns about exposure to Greece.
Markets have feared European officials will be unable to prevent Greece's fiscal crisis from turning into a global banking crisis. Greece said it will miss its deficit targets this year and next, which could limit the country's ability to receive more aid. "Most investors fear that markets in Europe are going to run well ahead of politicians that are not going to be able to get any kind of reasonable solution," said Jack de Gan, chief investment officer at Harbour Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
US banks have become a target for speculators. Morgan Stanley closed at its lowest since December 2008, and the cost to insure its debt has jumped as other banks hedge counterparty exposures and traders bet on the situation worsening. The recession that wiped 12 years of gains off the S&P 500 was caused in part by a credit crisis. "We are going to have a disorderly default in Greece and there could be another banking crisis in Europe as they are undercapitalised and loaded with (sovereign) debt," De Gan said.
Morgan Stanley has been the most volatile bank in recent weeks, with the cost to insure its debt rising to November 2008 levels, according to Markit data. Morgan Stanley shares fell 7.6 percent to $12.47 and the S&P financial sector was down 4.5 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 258.08 points, or 2.36 percent, to 10,655.30. The S&P 500 fell 32.19 points, or 2.85 percent, to 1,099.23. The Nasdaq Composite lost 79.57 points, or 3.29 percent, to 2,335.83. The S&P 500 broke through a previously strong technical support level near 1,120 before hitting a 13-month intraday low just below 1,100.
The benchmark is also down 19.4 percent from its closing high this year, nearly entering a bear market, which is defined as a 20 percent decline from its recent high set on April 29. A stronger-than-expected reading in a gauge of US manufacturing briefly lifted Wall Street stocks, but global manufacturing shrank for the first time in over two years in September, reinforcing fears of another recession.
The revelations that Athens would miss its deficit targets for both this year and next despite harsh new austerity measures will be the focus of talks as eurozone finance ministers meet to discuss the next steps toward resolving the currency area's sovereign debt crisis.
Shares of AMR Corp, parent of American Airlines, lost a third of their market value as analysts debated the prospects for a bankruptcy filing for the US airline, which lags its industry peers. More than 11 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, about 38 percent above the year's current daily average of 7.98 billion.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on both the NYSE and Nasdaq by a ratio of about 10 to 1.