Stocks on Wall Street weakened further after last Friday's plunge below 10,000 in the Dow, though a recovering oil price was a steadying influence for most of the session.However, the issue of Federal Reserve data late in the day showing a rise in consume
Stocks on Wall Street weakened further after last Friday’s plunge below 10,000 in the Dow, though a recovering oil price was a steadying influence for most of the session.
However, the issue of Federal Reserve data late in the day showing a rise in consumer credit sent stocks tumbling in the final hour as hope for the US economy faded.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 115.48 points, or 1.2%, lower at 9816.49, a seven-month low and below the level of the "flash crash" on May 6.
The wider market fared even worser with the S&P 500 dropping 1.35% to 1050.47 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.0% to 2173.90.
Oil climbed back above $US72 a barrel after suffering its biggest one-day percentage drop in nearly four months on Friday.
The Dow was weighed down by a 3.4% decline in Bank of America, which is paying $US108 million to settle regulatory charges incurred by Countrywide Financial, which it acquired nearly two years ago.
AT&T rose 0.6% after changing its phone upgrade policy to allow more of its customers to purchase a new Apple iPhone sooner. The move came as Apple unveiled a new version from the iPhone. Apple fell 0.5%.
Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European stocks fell sharply, extending losses late in the session as US stocks retreated from early gains.
Stocks briefly turned positive earlier on in the session, boosted by stronger-than-anticipated German factory orders and healthy US stock futures.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.7% at 242.71, ending in the red for a second session. The UK's FTSE 100 index fell 1.1% to 5069.06, its fifth loss in six sessions. France's CAC-40 index closed down 1.2% at 3413.72 and Germany's DAX lost 0.6% to 5904.95.
Greece's ASE index fell 5.5% to 1403.92, closing at its lowest level in 12 years.
Japanese shares tumbled to lead Asian markets sharply lower as global markets were roiled on Friday by debt worries raised by Hungary's new government and a plunge in the euro.
The Nikkei Stock Average finished at 9520.80, tumbling 3.8% for its worst daily percentage loss of this year. Also dropping, but by a smaller degree, were Australia's S&P/ASX 200, down 2.8% to 4350.67, Taiwan's Taiex, down 2.5% at 7157.83 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which lost 2% to 19,378.15.
Korea's Kospi fell 1.6% to 1637.97 and China's Shanghai Composite also fell 1.6% to 2511.73. India's Sensex gave up 2% to 16,781.07 and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 1.9% to 2751.88.
Commodities: Oil steady, gold up
Crude futures traded close to unchanged, as the oil market struggled to shake off a gloomy economic outlook that drove prices sharply lower at the end of last week.
The market took note of Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, who said the kingdom preferred a oil price ranging between $US70 and $US80 a barrel.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery was down 13USc, or 0.2%, lower at $US71.38 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 28USc, or 0.4%, higher at $US72.37 a barrel.
Gold prices jumped as speculators continue moving into the metal as a bet against rising fears about Europe's sovereign debt crisis.
Gold in euros has extended its record to €1035.27 ($US1238.80), which helped boost gold in New York.
The most active contract, for August delivery, was up $US20.90, or 1.7%, at $US1238.60 an ounce in New York. The front-month June contract rose $US23.30, or 1.9%, to $US1239.50 an ounce.
Currencies: Euro up; dollar, yen down
The euro rebounded from the weakest point against the dollar since March 2006 and an eight-and-a-half year low against the yen.
The euro also hit 1.3850 Swiss francs, its weakest-ever point against the Swiss currency, prompting investors to be on alert for signs of Swiss National Bank intervention to stem franc strength.
The euro had rebounded to $US1.1982, after hitting $US1.1878 intraday and compared with $US1.1966 late on Friday. The dollar strengthened to ¥91.91 from ¥91.69.
The euro moved to ¥109.87 from ¥109.72. The UK pound moved to $US1.4481 from $US1.4476. The dollar was at 1.1610 Swiss francs from 1.1617.
