A weak German bond sale sparked fears the debt crisis was eve commencement to threaten Berlin, with the leaders of France and Germany still at odds over a longer-term structural solution.
The poor demand for German regime bonds depicted that investors viewed investing in the euro zone as being also risky.
Debt problems plaguing Europe and the United States get pressured markets, knocking the S&P 500 down more than 7 percentage over the last six sessions. World stocks striking their lowest in six weeks on Wednesday.
“A poor auction of German bonds added to late worries that the risks from the debt mint are spreading to the centre of the euro zone,” pronounced WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederick Ruffy.
All 10 S&P 500 sectors were negative, with financials among the biggest decliners over concerns nigh pic to European debt. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) dropped 3.5 percent to $28.38 and Citigroup Inc (C.N) lost 3.9 percentage to $23.51.
Economically sensitive stocks such as energy and commodity-related issues also slid. The PHLX oil service sector index .OSX dropped 3.7 pct and the S&P materials sector .GSPM settled 2.8 percent. Schlumberger Ltd (SLB.N) lost 3.6 pct to $66.50 and DuPont and Co (DD.N) shed 2.9 percent to $44.08.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI sank 236.17 points, or 2.05 percent, to 11,257.55 at the close. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX dropped 26.25 points, or 2.21 percent, to 1,161.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 61.20 points, or 2.43 percent, to 2,460.08.
The S&P 500′s six-day decline is the longest such streak since a seven-day glide that ceased August 2.
Reflecting heightened fears in the market, the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX .VIX, Wall Street’s so-called fearfulness gauge, sprang 6.3 percent.
Volume was light before of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, when markets are closed. Virtually 6.9 billion shares changed hands on the Young York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, below the current daily average of 8 billion shares.
“There is no buying demand, merely this does not meanspirited that there is a actually stiff offer, either. It merely agency that we might exist working dead the ‘oversold-ness’ with this choppy action, 1160-1180 on the S&P,” articulated Joseph Cusick, senior market analyst at OptionsXpress Holdings Inc in Chicago.
One of the few bright spots was Deere & Co (DE.N), which climbed 3.9 percentage to $74.72 after quarterly salary heartbeat expectations and sales slam up 20 percent.
Adding to market worries, data depicted5 Chinese manufacturing shrank the nearly in 32 months in November, intensifying concerns nearly a global economic slowdown. U.S. crude oil descended 1.8 percentage on fears of reduced demand from China, the world’s No. 2 economy.
U.S. data painted a mixed film and pictured little reason for optimism. New jobless claims rose lastly hebdomad and consumer spending barely increased in October, while another account showed new orders for durable goods, which include long-lasting manufactured items such as3 refrigerators, rose.