Wall Street saw a sharply lower open Tuesday as reports on inflation and retail sales failed to ease investors' concerns about the financial sector.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that core inflation at the wholesale level, which excludes energy and food, ticked up by just 0.2 percent. But overall wholesale prices jumped by a larger-than-expected 1.8 percent.
Concerns about financial shares weighed on stocks. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled as investors speculated that the U.S. government's support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won't help shareholders. In addition, Oppenheimer's analyst Meredith Whitney predicted bank share will keep falling. Wachovia Corp. slumped.
Wall Street also is awaiting testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who is to appear before the Senate Banking Committee to offer his midyear report on the economy.
The Dow Jones fell 100.88 to 10,954.31. Broader indexes also tumbled. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10.80 to 1,217.50; and the Nasdaq fell 17.23 to 2,195.64.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article