S&P 500 Posts Biggest Drop Since July 2010 :-
U.S. stocks fell five straight days, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest weekly loss in a year, as lawmakers’ failure to agree on raising the federal government’s debt limit brought the nation to the brink of default. All 10 groups in the S&P 500 tumbled at least 2.1 percent. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS), the largest package-delivery company, dropped 6.7 percent after saying the third quarter will be “fairly slow.”3M Co. (MMM) lost 8.6 percent, the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after missing forecasts for profit margins and sales. Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) plunged 18 percent as the wireless-network operator trailed estimates.
The S&P 500 declined 3.9 percent to 1,292.28, the biggest weekly drop since the period ended July 2, 2010. The Dow retreated 537.92 points, or 4.2 percent, to 12,143.24.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against S&P 500 losses, soared 44 percent, the most since May 2010, to 25.25.
The S&P 500 posted a third straight monthly loss, the longest streak since 2008, amid speculation Republicans in the U.S. House would fail to reach a compromise with the Senate, controlled by Democrats, and President Barack Obama to boost the nation’s ability to borrow by an Aug. 2 deadline. That concern helped overshadow a second-quarter earnings reporting season in which 78 percent of S&P 500 companies have exceeded analysts’ income projections.
Stocks also fell this week after government reports showed orders for durable goods unexpectedly decreased and the U.S. economy grew less than forecast in the second quarter. Sprint sank 18 percent to $4.23. The carrier lost 101,000 customers on monthly contracts after dropping 114,000 in the previous three-month period. That started a new losing streak following a fourth-quarter gain in the lucrative users that was the first increase in more than four years. S&P placed the U.S. AAA rating on “CreditWatch” on July 14, saying there’s a 50 percent chance it would be cut within 90 days even if an agreement is reached by the Aug. 2 deadline. S&P said it needs to see a “credible solution to the rising U.S. government debt burden.”
U.S. stocks fell five straight days, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest weekly loss in a year, as lawmakers’ failure to agree on raising the federal government’s debt limit brought the nation to the brink of default. All 10 groups in the S&P 500 tumbled at least 2.1 percent. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS), the largest package-delivery company, dropped 6.7 percent after saying the third quarter will be “fairly slow.”3M Co. (MMM) lost 8.6 percent, the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after missing forecasts for profit margins and sales. Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) plunged 18 percent as the wireless-network operator trailed estimates.
The S&P 500 declined 3.9 percent to 1,292.28, the biggest weekly drop since the period ended July 2, 2010. The Dow retreated 537.92 points, or 4.2 percent, to 12,143.24.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against S&P 500 losses, soared 44 percent, the most since May 2010, to 25.25.
The S&P 500 posted a third straight monthly loss, the longest streak since 2008, amid speculation Republicans in the U.S. House would fail to reach a compromise with the Senate, controlled by Democrats, and President Barack Obama to boost the nation’s ability to borrow by an Aug. 2 deadline. That concern helped overshadow a second-quarter earnings reporting season in which 78 percent of S&P 500 companies have exceeded analysts’ income projections.
Stocks also fell this week after government reports showed orders for durable goods unexpectedly decreased and the U.S. economy grew less than forecast in the second quarter. Sprint sank 18 percent to $4.23. The carrier lost 101,000 customers on monthly contracts after dropping 114,000 in the previous three-month period. That started a new losing streak following a fourth-quarter gain in the lucrative users that was the first increase in more than four years. S&P placed the U.S. AAA rating on “CreditWatch” on July 14, saying there’s a 50 percent chance it would be cut within 90 days even if an agreement is reached by the Aug. 2 deadline. S&P said it needs to see a “credible solution to the rising U.S. government debt burden.”
