Stocks have moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, adding to the notable losses posted in the previous session. After moving modestly lower in early trading, the major averages have slid steadily downward as the day has progressed.
Concerns about the financial situation in Europe have once again contributed to the weakness on Wall Street, with traders reacting negatively to news that credit ratings agency Moody's revised the outlooks on the Aaa sovereign ratings of Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to negative from stable.
Further selling pressure was generated by a report from Reuters quoting European Union officials as saying that Greece is unlikely to be able to pay what it owes and will likely require further debt restructuring.
While most of the major sectors have moved to the downside on the day, airline stocks are posting particularly steep losses. The NYSE Arca Airline Index is down by 2.8 percent, falling to its lowest intraday level in well over a month.
Oil service stocks have also moved notably lower despite an increase by the price of crude oil. Steel, housing, networking, and computer hardware stocks are also seeing significant weakness amid broad based selling pressure.
The major averages are currently posting steep losses, near their worst levels of the day. The Dow is down 161.02 points or 1.3 percent at 12,560.44, the Nasdaq is down 27.71 points or 1 percent at 2,862.44 and the S&P 500 is down 16.80 points or 1.2 percent at 1,333.72.
by RTT Staff Writer
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