Wall Street stumbled on Monday as a stronger dollar saw a fall in commodity prices. Losses were broad based as international developments in Iran and North Korea also concerned investors.
The Dow Jones dropped 187.13 points, or 2.13%, to 8,612.13, the S&P’s 500 fell 22.49 points, or 2.38%, to 923.72 and the NASDAQ shed 42.42 points, or 2.28%, to 1,816.38.
Energy stocks slipped as the price of crude dropped for the second consecutive da, with NYMEX light crude oil for July delivery falling US$1.42 to settle at US$70.62 a barrel.
Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil fell 2.2%, 2.9% and 1.3% respectively.
Aluminium producer Alcoa slumped 6.5%, while Kaiser Aluminum lost 5.5%.
Financials were also heavily in the red. Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo shed 4.4%, 3.2% and 3%.
Citigroup and Goldman Sachs weakened 2.9% and 1.8%.
American International Group sank 5%, while American Express bucked the trend to edge 0.3% higher.
Tech stocks were also heavily sold off. Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Apple slid 3.9%, 1.8% and 0.6% respectively.
Search engine Google declined 1.9%, while Microsoft gained 0.4%.
A fall in the New York Empire State Manufacturing Index saw manufacturing stocks slide. Caterpillar and Deere & Co lost 4.3% and 3.7%.
Retailer Wal-Mart shed 2.8% following a broker downgrade. Target, Costco and Macy’s fell 0.7%, 1.5% and 4.9%.
COMEX gold for August delivery fell US$13.20 to settle at US$927.50 an ounce.
European Markets
European shares had the largest fall in a month on Monday on conjecture share prices have surpassed their relative earnings. Financials also weighed on revelations more write-downs could be required.
The UK benchmark FTSE 100 closed 115.94, or 2.61% lower at 4,326.01. France’s CAC40 fell 106.56, or 3.20% to 3,219.58, while the German DAX lost 179.30, or 3.54%, to 4,889.94.
UK banks Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HSBC sank 5%, 4.5% and 3.1% respectively. Lloyds put on 2.3% after reports the Commonwealth Bank of Australia could join a list of bidders for its investment management unit’s third-party funds business.
Societe Generale and BNP Paribas lost 4.2% and 2.1%, while Deutsche Bank dropped 5.8%.
Falling commodity prices weighed on resource stocks. Royal Dutch Shell and BP fell 4.2% and 2.1%, while energy peers Total and BG Group lost 3% each.
A 4.1 % drop in the price of copper had a significant impact on the miners. Xstrata, Antofagasta and Anglo American weakened 7.1%, 6% and 2.1%.
Aussie peers BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shed 2.8% and 6.9%.
Japanese Markets
The Nikkei 225 came off highs as economic jitters on an economic recovery resurfaced. Capital raisings diluting shareholdings worried investors, with financial and tech stocks led the decline.
The Nikkei 225 fell 96.15 or 0.95% to 10,039.67.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group slumped 6.9% after saying it would be raising more capital than analysts had anticipated.
Resource stocks also slumped with Japan Petroleum losing 2%, while Nippon Mining shed 2.6%.
Real estate stocks pared losses on a broker upgrade for the sector. Sumitomo Realty & Development ralled 6.8%. Peers Tokyu Land and Mitsui Fudosan soared 5.7% and 3.2% respectively.
Japan Tobacco rallied 7.3% after announcing it would purchase a supplier, Tribac Leaf.
Hong Kong Markets
A four-day rally on the The Hang Seng ran out of steam Monday. The index slumped as investors reacted to falling oil and commodity prices.
The Hang Seng slumped 390.72 or 2.07% to 18,498.96.
Banks were relatively steady, with the Bank of China and HSBC falling 0.8% and 2.65% respectively, while ICBC added 0.2%.
Airliner Cathay Pacific fell 3.8% on lower passenger numbers through Hong Kong airport.
Property developers didn’t rise with their Japanese counterparts. Poly (Hong Kong) Investment Ltd fell 8.9% following a US$206m capital raising.
Aluminum Corp. of China was 4.5% cheaper, while PetroChina dropped 3.3%.
Copper and gold miners, Jiangxi Copper Co and Zijin Mining Group Co fell 4.5% and 2.1% respectively.
