Data disappoints as stocks drop
US stocks hit a four-month low yesterday as rising Spanish bond yields increased investor anxiety over that country’s banks and another round of weak data undermined hopes for US economic recovery.
Growing worries over developments in the Eurozone and lackluster economic data pushed the S&P’s losing streak to five consecutive days. The index, which closed at a level not seen since mid-January, has now relinquished more than half of its gains from the first quarter.
“There is not a lot of interest in the equity market,”said Jason Weisberg, managing director at Seaport Securities Corp in New York. “The overhang with Europe is so heavy, people are tired of playing whack-a-mole, and their portfolios are the mole.”
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 156.06 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 12,442.49. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 19.94 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 1,304.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 60.35 points, or 2.10 per cent, to 2,813.69.
Caterpillar dropped 4.5 per cent to $87.77 as the biggest drag on the Dow after the heavy equipment company’s dealers reported slowing sales for April.
The Dow declined for an eleventh session in the past 12.