US markets slump as Europe debt-crisis unnerve Wall Street

18 Nov 2011 Evaluate

The US markets slumped for yet another day on Thursday, as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis will worsen and lawmakers will fail to agree on plans to cut the American deficit. Mariano Rajoy’s center-right opposition party is favored to win Sunday’s election in Spain, but the debt-laden Spain may end up needing a bailout given its skyrocketing borrowing costs. Concern about European debt markets and another potential impasse in Washington overshadowed better-than-estimated US economic data. Applications for jobless benefits decreased 5,000 in the week ended November 12 to 388,000, the lowest level in seven months. Also, new housing starts in the US declined 0.3% in October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000 to the revised September rate of 630,000, according to data released by the US Commerce Department showed.

The markets extended losses yesterday after Fitch ratings stated that US banks face a serious risk that their creditworthiness will deteriorate if Europe’s debt crisis deepens and spreads beyond the five most- troubled nations. The markets further extended declines after reports from euro-area official stating that there are no plans for aid for Italy from the European Financial Stability Facility.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 134.86 points, or 1.13 percent, to 11,770.70. The Standard and Poor’s 500 closed lower by 20.78 points, or 1.68 percent, to 1,216.13, while the Nasdaq composite lost 51.62 points, or 1.96 percent, to 2,587.99.

The Indian ADRs closed in red on Thursday, HDFC Bank was down by 1.61%, ICICI Bank was down by 1.28%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down by 1.26%, Tata Motors was down by 1.12% and Infosys Technologies was down by 0.98%.

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