Wall St slips on European debt worries; Dow down 225 pts

n the US markets it was the worst percentage slide since February & has put the S&P 500 at a one month low and just above its 50-day moving average.

Volatility spiked to more than a two-month high as a result. The CBOE volatility index spiked more than 20% to about 24.

Stocks were under pressure for the entire session on worries that the European debt crisis will spread. The market was buzzing with a fresh round of speculation that Spain might be next to need a bailout.

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At closing bell, the Dow shed 225.06, or 2%, to close at 10,926.77. The S&P 500 fell 2.4%, while the Nasdaq lost 3 percent.

Investors shrugged off a pair of encouraging US economic reports. Pending-home sales rose 5.3% in March, slightly better than expected, while factory orders jumped 1.3% in March, significantly better than the 0.1-percent drop expected.

European stocks erased their 2010 gain on concerns that Greece's debt crisis will spread through the region. The sovereign debt concerns led that caused Greece's Athex Composite to fall 6.7%, Spain's ibex to drop 5.4%. Portugal's general index gave up 3.8%.

The dollar hit a one-year high against the euro as investors worried that Greece may not pull off its austerity measures and that debt problems could spread to other countries.

Strength in the dollar and a sour tone in the stock market led to an over 2% drop in the CRB commodity index, its worst loss in three months.

Oil was one of the weakest commodities as it recorded its largest single-session loss in nearly three months. June contracts cracked 4% to USD 82.74 per barrel.

Gold was also lower after it gave up an early gain. The yellow metal slipped over a percent. The base metal slump continues with copper down to 7000 dollar per tonne levels.

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Daily News Roundup - May 5 2010

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Src: ET and DP blog and Moneycontrol.com