Wall Street slides on heightened economic fears
15-01-2009
US stocks fell hard Wednesday on dismal retail sales data and renewed concerns over the health of banks and other companies set to report quarterly results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 248 points or 2.94 percent to end at 8,200, extending a losing streak to a sixth session.The Nasdaq composite tumbled 56 points (3.67 percent) to 1,489 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 29 points (3.35 percent) to 842. Market concerns ranged from disappointing retail sales figures that underscored sagging consumer confidence from earnings warnings in the banking sector, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Citigroup. US retail sales in December plunged 2.7 percent, more than twice market forecasts. Financial stocks sparked the sell-off, with Citigroup and Morgan Stanley as well as US listed units of European banks pulled down by market concerns over their earnings potential as the world's biggest economy reeled from prolonged recession. Oil prices fell. US crude was down 50 cents to US$37.28 a barrel. Gold was also trading lower.
