Stock Market Watch

Stocks Tumble in Late Trading to Finish Sharply Lower

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Stocks tumbled in late trading today, finishing the day sharply lower. The sell-off in late trading was triggered by comments from rating agency Fitch Ratings.

Fitch said today that further contagion from euro zone’s debt crisis will pose a risk to American banks. The rating agency said that unless the euro zone debt crisis is resolved in a timely and orderly manner, the broad credit outlook for the U.S. banking industry could worsen.


Since the start of this week, the debt crisis in Europe has spread to core euro zone economies. On Tuesday, yields on bonds of triple-A euro zone economies, excluding Germany, rose sharply. Meanwhile, Italian and Spanish bonds remain under pressure despite intervention from the European Central Bank.

All three major indexes fell sharply in late trading following the comments from Fitch. The Dow Jones ended the day 1.58% lower at 11,905.59, the S&P 500 ended the day 1.66% lower at 1,236.91, and the Nasdaq ended the day 1.73% lower at 2,639.61.

All sectors in the S&P 500 fell sharply in trading today. Financials were the worst performers today, ending the day 2.13% lower. Basic Materials stocks also fell sharply on global growth worries, ending the day 1.98% lower. Energy stocks, which had risen sharply earlier today after oil prices rose above $100 a barrel, ended the day 0.99% lower.

Among the major losers in trading today were Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), which ended the day 60.59% lower at $7.11, CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVI), which ended the day 16.26% lower at $18.38, and Chemed Corporation (NYSE: CHE), which ended the day 11.94% lower at $50.65.

European markets ended on a mixed note earlier today, with the FTSE 100 Index in London closing 0.15% lower, and the CAC 40 Index in Paris closing 0.52% higher.

edliston
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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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.

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