Stocks close down 2.4%, facing ‘same old issues’ post-election

Stocks closed down 2.4% Wednesday, a sharp slide in the first trading session after President Obama’s reelection.

Wall Street again focused on two looming crises -- the “fiscal cliff” and European debt crisis. “We’re back to our same old issues,” said Andy Brooks, head of U.S. equity trading at T. Rowe Price.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 313 points, finishing at around 12,933.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended the day down 34 points, or 2.4%, closing at 1,395. The Nasdaq fell 75 points, or 2.5%, to 2,937.

Obama’s reelection renewed worries that the Democratic president and Republican House would remain deadlocked -- particularly on the automatic spending cuts and tax hikes looming at year’s end, known as the fiscal cliff.

“The market’s now facing the reality that that president has won another term, and the first term produced very little in terms of tangible efforts and legislation and commitment to address some of our longstanding fiscal challenges,” Brooks said. “The market is becoming increasingly frustrated with Washington’s inability to find compromise and produce anything.”

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