US stocks fell about 2 percent Monday on lingering worries over a deal for economic integration in Europe and after Intel cut its revenue outlook. The decline was broad, with all l0 S&P industry groups in negative territory.
The latest pressure point came as Fitch Ratings said failure by European Union leaders to come up with a "comprehensive" solution to the region's debt crisis has increased short-term pressure on ratings of eurozone countries.
The Dow's biggest decliner was Intel Corp, falling 5 percent to $23.76 after the chipmaker cut its fourth-quarter revenue forecast due to hard disk drive supply shortages. An index of semiconductor makers fell 3.5 percent. US banks were among the worst performers on renewed concern that problems in Europe's financial system could spill over to US institutions.
The S&P financial sector was down 3.1 percent. Bank of America Corp fell 4.9 percent to $5.44 and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co lost 4 percent to $31.84. "It appears that Europe's nightmare has not gone away after all, with investors rethinking Friday's immediately positive response," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 228.68 points, or 1.88 percent, at 11,955.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 25.90 points, or 2.06 percent, at 1,229.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 50.41 points, or 1.90 percent, at 2,596.44. Italian one-year borrowing costs stayed close to a record high at an auction. An index of European equities closed down about 1.9 percent. Moody's and Standard & Poor's reminded markets on Monday that the deal reached last week was not enough to diminish the chance of sovereign downgrades in the eurozone in the near to midterm. Last week, S&P put 15 eurozone countries on a watch for potential credit rating downgrades.
Resource-related stocks also tumbled as US crude oil futures fell 1.7 percent and copper prices dropped 2.8 percent to a near two-week low on deepening concern over Europe. Alcoa Inc was off 3.5 percent to $9.30, and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc dropped 4 percent to $38.16. Last week, the European Union decided to set stricter budget rules for the single currency area and to provide up to 200 billion euros in bilateral loans to the International Monetary Fund in response to the turmoil.