Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wall Street recovers from swoon set off by Cyprus

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, March 15, 2013. U.S. stock markets are opening lower, threatening to end the Dow's winning streak at 10 days. Stocks around the world fell sharply Monday March 18, 2013 as investors gave their initial verdict to a weekend plan to tax depositors in Cypriot banks as part of a bailout of the Mediterranean island nation. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, March 15, 2013. U.S. stock markets are opening lower, threatening to end the Dow's winning streak at 10 days. Stocks around the world fell sharply Monday March 18, 2013 as investors gave their initial verdict to a weekend plan to tax depositors in Cypriot banks as part of a bailout of the Mediterranean island nation. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

(AP) ? Stocks were little changed on Wall Street after recouping losses from an early sell-off caused by concern that a bailout plan for the Mediterranean island nation Cyprus would re-ignite the European debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average bounced back from an early swoon of nearly 110 points and was down nine points, or 0.1 percent, at 14,506 as of 2:39 p.m.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,557. The Nasdaq composite dropped two points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,247.

European markets also recovered from an early slide and closed with modest losses, indicating that investors were taking the Cyprus developments in stride. Yields on government bonds issued by Spain and Italy edged higher and the euro fell to a three-month low against the dollar.

Concerns persist about the euro-region's lingering debt crisis, despite a strong rally in stocks since the start of the year that pushed the Dow to record highs. The index fell 1.6 percent Feb. 25, its biggest wobble this year, after elections in Italy threw the country into political paralysis, endangering crucial economic reforms.

"Europe has got problems," said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, a hedge fund. "You could get more stuff like this and the market isn't priced to handle that."

A weekend agreement between Cyprus and its European partners called for the government to raid bank accounts as part of a ?15.8 billion ($20.4 billion) financial bailout, the first time in the euro zone crisis that the prospect of seizing individuals' savings has been raised.

The proposal roiled international markets and the measures are stoking fears of bank runs in the other 16 nations that use the euro.

Markets in Europe and Asia also fell during early trading, before retracing some of their losses later in the day. Germany's DAX index dropped 0.4 percent and Spain's main index of stocks shed 1.3 percent. Indexes in Britain and France each lost 0.5 percent, recovering from steeper declines early in the day.

The euro fell a penny against the dollar to $1.29, touching its lowest in three months. Gold climbed $12 to $1,604.50 an ounce.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond, which moves inversely to its price, fell to 1.96 percent from 1.99 percent as investors moved money into low-risk investments. Yields on bonds issued by Spain and Italy, the two most vulnerable large European economies, rose but only slightly. Spain's benchmark 10-year yield rose to 4.97 percent from 4.91 percent, and Italy's rose to 4.57 percent from 4.55 percent.

The stock market's rebound suggests that traders consider the Cyprus situation to be contained for now, said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist for Prudential. The threat of rising volatility may also deter the Fed from thinking about ending its economic stimulus program. The central bank starts its second two-day policy meeting of the year Tuesday.

"Absent of the Cyprus flare-up, the markets were slowing a bit and it looked as if investors were digesting the gains and waiting for the next catalyst," said Krosby.

Financial stocks were the biggest decliners in the S&P 500. Investment bank Morgan Stanley fell 48 cents, or 2 percent, to $23.11. Citigroup dropped $1.03 to $46.23.

Goldman Sachs said Monday that it had lifted its end-of-year target for the S&P 500 to 1,625 from its previous target of 1,575. The investment bank is forecasting that the U.S. economy will grow 2 percent this year and 2.9 percent next year. It also predicts that corporate deals and dividend payments will increase.

Among other stocks making big moves:

? Schlumberger dropped $2.47 to $76.93 after the oilfield services company said that its first quarter activity was below its expectations as customers reactivated fewer rigs than forecast.

? Boeing fell $1.15 to $85.27 after archrival Airbus signed its biggest deal of all time on Monday. The European plane maker won an order from Indonesia's Lion Air worth 18.4 billion euros ($24 billion) for its short haul A320 and A321 jets.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-18-US-Wall-Street/id-c3dc558007fe4b62985d3c87191b7038

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