Stocks on Wall Street plunged for a second day, this time after consumer confidence unexpectedly fell sharply this month.The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100.97 points or 1.0%, to 10,282.41.The Conference Board said its index of consumer co
Stocks on Wall Street plunged for a second day, this time after consumer confidence unexpectedly fell sharply this month.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100.97 points or 1.0%, to 10,282.41.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence plunged more than 10 points this month to 46.0. The February reading was far below the 54.8 expected by economists.
Energy stocks slid as crude-oil prices declined below $US79 a barrel.
Intel was the measure's worst performer, falling 2.5% after announcing plans to work with venture-capital firms to steer billions of dollars into new technology investments.
Materials components also fell, with Alcoa down 2.7% and Caterpillar down 2.4%.
Microsoft slid 2% after reaching a patent licensing agreement with Amazon.com that gives the online retailer rights to use open-source software in its Kindle electronic book reader.
Home Depot was the Dow's strongest performer, with the home-improvement retailer climbing 1.4% after announcing its first dividend hike since 2006 as earnings topped estimates.
The S&P 500 index finished 1.2% down at 1094.60 with technology and energy sectors leading the fall. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.3% to 2213.44.
Other markets
European stock markets gave up early gains, weighed down by bank stocks and disappointing euro-zone data.
Commerzbank led the financial sector lower, down 6.6%, after the company posted a bigger-than-anticipated net loss. Deutsche Bank shares gave up 3% while Barclays shed 2%.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index was down 0.6% at 248.19.
London's FTSE 100 Index was 0.1% lower at 5345.48, Frankfurt's DAX Index was down 0.8% at 5642.97 and the CAC-40 Index in Paris fell 0.5% to 3736.74.
Asian markets ended mixed, with concerns about an impending increase in supply of shares dragging on financial stocks in China, while Hong Kong advanced as investors snapped up property developers.
Japanese exporters were lower as the US dollar slid against the yen. Honda fell 2.2%, Toyota gave up 0.5% and Sony slipped 0.3%
Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.5% lower to 10,352.10, China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.9%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended flat, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.2%, Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.5% and South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.1%.
India's Sensex rose 0.3% and Singapore's Straits Times climbed 0.9%.
Commodities: Oil, gold down
Crude-oil prices extended earlier losses on the disappointing US consumer confidence data. Oil prices were already trading below $US80 a barrel, as traders took profits after a four-day winning streak.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled $US1.45 lower, or 1.8%, at $US78.86 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $1.36 lower, or 1.7%, at $77.25 a barrel.
Gold futures were a touch lower as investors cooled toward perceived riskier assets.
April gold was down $US9.90, or 0.9%, at $US1103.20 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
The US dollar gained against the euro and other risk-positive currencies, but slipped against the yen.
The euro was at $US1.3543 from $US1.3601. The dollar was at ¥90.34 from ¥91.11, while the euro was at ¥122.32 from ¥123.92.
The UK pound was at $US1.5440 from $US1.5480.
