The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 220 points, giving up almost a third of what had been a 745-point advance since
The sell-off, which spread west from
"When things go straight up and don't ever correct or have some sort of normal pullback, as an investor, that makes me nervous," said
The gradual rally had been powered by optimism about the U.S. economic recovery. But investors realized that
Stocks fell sharply from the opening bell and never mounted a serious comeback. All but two of the 30 stocks in the Dow were lower, and Procter &
Just before
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 22 points at 1,342. The Nasdaq composite index was down 44 points at 2,907.
All 10 industry groups in the
The
Last year, sell-offs like this were much more common. The S&P fell by at least 1 percent on 48 trading days, roughly one in every five. During the depths of the financial crisis in the last four months of 2008, it happened roughly one in every three days.
Stocks fell more than 3 percent Tuesday in
Major banks and investment funds have signed on for the swap, but it remains unclear whether hedge funds, which had already bought the bonds at a steep discount and may profit from bond insurance payouts if
The swap is vital for
Oil prices slipped
The price of gold fell
"Global growth fears now are hitting home, and we're seeing selling across the board," said
Yields on U.S. government debt also fell as investors moved their money into what they perceive to be a safer asset. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.95 percent from 2.01 percent late Monday. Bond yields fall when their prices rise.
Among stocks making big moves:
_ Weight loss company
_
_
_ Apple fell 0.6 percent one day before the expected release of its iPad 3 tablet computer.
Copyright: | (c) 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
Source: | Associated Press |
Wordcount: | 888 |
More Articles