Stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Monday after seeing considerable volatility last week. Lingering concerns about the ongoing European debt crisis weighed on the markets amid worries about the impact on the global economy.
Reflecting broad based selling pressure due to the global economic concerns, most of the major sectors showed notable moves to the downside on the day.
Oil service stocks posted particularly steep losses, moving lower along with the price of crude oil. With crude for August delivery sliding $0.55 to $79.21 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index fell by 3.4 percent.
Considerable weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 3.5 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Veeco Instruments (VECO) helped to lead the sector lower, with the semiconductor equipment maker plunging 11.4 percent.
Networking stocks also moved sharply over the course of the trading day, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 3.2 percent. Emulex (ELX) and Acme Packet (APKT) turned in two of the sector's worst performances.
Electronic storage, brokerage, steel, and airline stocks also posted steep losses on the day, while gold stocks bucked the downtrend amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal.
After moving sharply lower in early trading, the major averages remained stuck firmly in the red throughout the session. The Dow fell 138.12 points or 1.1 percent to 12,502.66, the Nasdaq tumbled 56.26 points or 2 percent to 2,836.16 and the S&P 500 slid 21.30 points or 1.6 percent to 1,313.72.
by RTT Staff Writer
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