NST Online Business Times : latest
NST Online Business Times : latest |
| US stocks sink on 'fiscal cliff' concerns Posted: 21 Dec 2012 06:39 PM PST NEW YORK: US stocks sank Friday in the absence of a deal to avert the looming "fiscal cliff" crisis just days before a deadline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 120.88 points (0.91 per cent) at 13,190.84. The broad-market S&P 500 fell 13.54 points (0.94 per cent) to 1,430.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dipped 29.38 points (0.96 per cent) to 3,021.01. Washington has until the end of the year to stop the United States from going over the so-called fiscal cliff, a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts that experts say could drag the world's biggest economy into recession if they go into effect on January 1.
Republican leaders said they were not walking away from talks but a compromise remains elusive. The cancellation of a vote on the Republican plan in the House of Representatives due to lagging support "provided the lion's share of the negative sentiment, even as (House) Speaker (John) Boehner left the door open for further negotiations with President Obama," said Charles Schwab analysts. Concern about the "fiscal cliff" appeared to overshadow new, positive economic data, including an uptick in consumer spending, the key driver of the US economy. Personal spending climbed 0.4 per cent while personal income rose 0.6 per cent, the Commerce Department said. The latest data on new orders for manufactured durable goods, meanwhile, showed these indicators were up 0.7 per cent. Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion took a beating on investor fears that its new smartphone platform will thin the ranks paying for its service. It sank 22.7 per cent. Other stocks in focus included media conglomerate News Corp., which said it had filed a document with US regulators detailing its split into two independent companies. It lost 1.9 per cent. Investors were also eyeing General Electric, down 0.8 per cent, which announced it would buy the aviation activities of Italian engine maker Avio for US$4.3 billion. ConocoPhillips slipped 1.1 per cent. Late Thursday, the Houston-based energy giant said it had agreed to sell its Nigerian operations to growing African group Oando for US$1.79 billion. -- AFP |
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