Stocks Tumble on Fiscal Cliff Worries
Stocks plunged in trading today, with all three major indexes ending at session lows, as rising worries over the looming “fiscal cliff” weighed down investors’ sentiment. Stocks were also dragged lower by worries over the euro zone economy.
The Dow Jones ended the day 2.36% 12,932.73, the S&P 500 ended the day 2.37% lower at 1,394.53, and the Nasdaq ended the day 2.48% lower at 2,937.29.
Following the U.S. Presidential election that saw President Obama getting re-elected, investors turned their focus to the looming “fiscal cliff”. Investors are hoping that lawmakers in Washington DC will reach an agreement on cutting the U.S. fiscal deficit before the deadline. Failure to do so would lead to massive spending cuts and tax increases, which will push the U.S. economy into a recession.
The sell-off in equity market was also sparked by concerns over Europe after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said that economic activity in the euro zone is expected to remain weak and the slowdown may have reached Germany, the region’s largest economy.
All sectors in the S&P 500 ended the day sharply lower. The losses were led by Financials, which ended the day 2.71% lower. Energy sector also fell sharply, ending the day 2.38% lower. Industrials ended the day 2.24% lower, while Conglomerates ended the day 2.07% lower. Technology sector ended the day 2.52% lower.
Among the major losers in trading today were Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which ended the day 3.83% lower at $558, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), which ended the day 7.14% lower at $9.23, Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), which ended the day 12.47% lower at $7.58, Telephone & Data Systems Inc. (NYSE: TDS), which ended the day 16.56% lower at $21.87, and Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), which ended the day 3.14% lower at $88.18.
European markets ended mostly lower earlier today, with all major indexes region falling sharply. Asian markets ended on a mixed note overnight.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.
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