Stocks fall on Europe fears
Stocks racked up their worst loss in two weeks, dashing hopes that the market was busting out of the trading range where it has been stuck for two months.
Weighed down in part by new worries about Europe, the Dow Jones industrial average slid 247.49 points, or 2.1%, to close at 11,397.00 on Monday. That took back about half of the Dow’s 541-point, 4.9% rally last week.
The broader market also slumped, after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned investors against expecting a “definitive solution” to the continent’s debt crisis at the upcoming weekend summit of European Union leaders.
For traders who’ve ridden stocks’ sharp rebound from one-year lows on Oct. 3, that was enough to trigger profit-taking. Through Friday the Dow had rallied 989 points, or 9.3%, since Oct. 3.
Investors are eager to see Europe ring-fence the debt crisis that has engulfed Greece and now threatens to spread to larger states. Hopes rose last week after Slovakia became the final country to approve the Eurozone’s new rescue fund.
“The market just wants this indecision to be over with,” said Ryan Detrick, analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research.
