Stocks slide as Moody’s Reviews Credit Ratings | December 13, 2011


Asian Markets are set to fall on opening after U.S. stocks fell, as Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings said last week’s summit did little to ease pressure on Europe’s struggling governments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 162.87 points lower, or 1.34%, at 12021.40 with financial and energy stocks falling the most. The S&P500 fell 18.71 points, or 1.49%, to 1236.48, while the Nasdaq fell 34.59 points or 1.31%.

Stocks finished well off their lows for the day, but it was still good enough for a 160-point drop in the Dow and an equally tough day for tech stocks. An aggressive two-week rally came to a quiet thud Monday on Wall Street, in a light-volume selloff triggered by the familiar fears that Europe was far from solving its sovereign debt crisis.

The EURUSD fell to the lowest level in two months versus the dollar as Moody’s Investors Service said it will review the ratings of European Union nations after last week’s summit failed to produce decisive steps to end the debt crisis. The euro fell 1.5% to $1.3184

WTI Oil fell to the lowest level in more than two weeks as Moody’s Investors Service said it will review the credit ratings of all European Union countries and China’s export growth slowed to the weakest pace since 2009.

Gold dropped around 3% on Monday, its largest one-day drop in nearly three months, as doubts over a deal for European economic integration triggered a technical breakdown.

INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4196
S&P500 Index 1236.47
Dow Jones 12021.40
FTSE 100 Index 5427.86

COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1670.80
Oil (Nymex) 98.05

CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 1.0069
EURUSD 1.3187
GBPUSD 1.5583
USDJPY 77.87
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News