US market slumps on rising economic worries

22 Nov 2011 Evaluate

The US markets sank on Monday, as the lack of progress by American lawmakers in reaching a deficit-cutting agreement magnified worry that Europe’s debt crisis would spur a global downturn. The markets extended losses into a fourth consecutive session where the good news is being totally discounted, and the fear of the worst-case scenarios are being priced in. The National Association of Realtors reported sales of previously owned US homes climbed 1.4% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million, suggesting slight improvement in the troubled sector.

In Washington, the super-committee, comprising six Democrats and six Republicans from the House and Senate, was formed in August by the legislation that hiked the US debt ceiling. The panel has until Wednesday to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction to avoid automatic spending cuts of the same amount in 2013. The US is heading for automatic spending beginning in 2013 if lawmakers fail to agree before the deadline this Wednesday.

Besides in Europe, Germany’s Finance Ministry stated that the country’s expansion has gotten noticeably slower while another report issued yesterday had rating agency Moody’s Investors Service warning that elevated borrowing costs and a wobbly economy pose a threat to France’s credit outlook.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 248.85 points, or 2.11 percent, to 11,547.30. The Standard and Poor’s 500 closed lower by 22.67 points, or 1.86 percent, to 1,192.98, while the Nasdaq composite lost 49.36 points, or 1.92 percent, to 2,523.14.

The Indian ADRs closed in red on Monday, Infosys Technologies was down by 2.11%, ICICI Bank was down by 1.49%, HDFC Bank was down by 1.31%, Tata Motors was down by 0.94% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down by 0.83%.

© 2025 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×