Monday, July 18, 2011

Wall Street falls on global debt worry; banks drag down

US stocks dropped as bank shares bore the brunt of investor frustration over governments' inability to solve debt crises in the United States and Europe.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 94.57 points, or 0.76 percent, at 12,385.16. The S&P 500 Index fell 10.70 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,305.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 24.69 points, or 0.89 percent, at 2,765.11.

European shares fell to a four-month closing low, led by banks on worries this week's euro zone meeting would fail to agree a second bailout package for Greece and concerns that the latest bank stress tests were unrealistic.

The STOXX Europe 600 Banks index fell 3.1 percent and has lost 27.6 percent since mid-February, when worries intensified about the global recovery and the euro zone debt concerns.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed down 1.6 percent at 1,069.66 points.

The Nikkei share average rose buoyed by European investors scooping up cyclical shares, but was capped by the top of the narrow range it has traded in for most of the week, with the majority of big players on the sidelines ahead of bank stress tests in Europe.

The benchmark Nikkei was up 0.4 percent at 9,974.47 after opening marginally lower. The Nikkei has spent most of the week trapped between resistance at 10,000 and immediate support at its 200-day moving average, around 9,901.