Stocks Down Amid Eurozone Jitters

Stocks slumped further into losing territory during light trading Monday as investors remained anxious about Italy’s ability to implement austerity measures and amid fears that the region’s debt problems may spread to other euro zone economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell, led by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), down -0.175  (-2.82%)  6.035, and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) 32.25 down -1.03 (-3.09%), after posting a 2 percent gain last Friday.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also fell. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best  gauge of fear in the market, was above 31.
Most sectors of the S&P were in red territory, led by banks and energy, while techs edged higher.

In business news, Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) 23.95, -1.08, -4.31%) saw its shares tumble nearly 5% after Moody’s put the Swiss investment bank’s credit rating on review for a possible downgrade, citing lackluster financial results.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) 96.268 up 0.138  (+0.14%) gained after the heavy equipment maker said it will invest nearly $640 million to increase capacity for large mining trucks and tractors at two facilities in the U.S. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs added the firm to its “conviction buy” list.

Fellow Dow component Bank of America (BAC)  6.04  -0.17 (-2.74%) said it reached an agreement to sell about 10.4 billion common shares of China Construction Bank through private transactions with a group of investors.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) 67.98 up 1.06  (+1.58%)  climbed to lead the blue-chip gainers after the aerospace and defense firm signed a $18 billion deal with Emirates. The airline placed an order for 50 777s, one of the largest orders ever placed with the aircraft maker. Boeing also landed a new customer, Oman Air, which ordered six 787s.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) 187.56   up 0.18  (+0.1%) rose after billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC that his firm, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) 113490.00  down -1971.00  (-1.71%) has purchased $10.7 billion worth of the tech giant’s stock this year.

In tech trading, Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) 133.09  3.22  (+2.48%)  rallied after Citigroup upgraded the cloud computing company to “buy” from “neutral,” citing increasing confidence in the firm’s long-term profitability potential.
Other Internet companies were trading higher, including Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) 613.49  up 5.14 (+0.84%), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) 219.30 up 1.91 (+0.88%) , Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN) 534.29  up 0.98 (+0.18%), and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) 138.258 up 0.498  (+0.36%).

On the earnings front, JCPenney (NYSE:JCP) 33.07 down -0.85  (-2.51%) slipped after the clothing retailer posted a loss after same-store sales and gross margin declined. The firm also expects same-store sales for the holiday quarter to be flat. J.C. Penney reported a quarterly loss, saying its results were weighed down by restructuring costs.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) reported better-than-expected quarterly results and laid out a blueprint to win back shoppers from larger rival Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), even as skeptics said they saw little chances of a fast turnaround at the smaller home improvement chain. Lowe’s 23.41  up 0.30  (+1.3%) edged higher after reporting the results and raising its full-year revenue outlook.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) 26.75  -0.07 (-0.26%)  is scheduled to post earnings after-the-bell tonight; brand Anthropologie was down last week.