Stocks fall as lawmakers remain at odds over debt (599 hits)
The biggest evidence yet that investors are concerned about keeping their money safe: they're selling stocks of small companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — The biggest evidence yet that investors are concerned about keeping their money safe: they're selling stocks of small companies. Those stocks usually fall much more than large-company stocks if the economy slows down or the stock market turns volatile. With the deadline for a debt deal less than a week away, the stocks that investors consider to be the riskiest are falling the most.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller U.S. companies, fell 2 percent Wednesday, far more than both the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index. The Russell fell 16 points, or 2 percent, to 808.50 in afternoon trading. That was twice as much as the 0.9 percent decline in the Dow average, which lost 115 points to 12,385.
The S&P 500 index fell 19, or 1.4 percent, to 1,312. All 10 company groups that make up the S&P 500 fell. Utilities and telecommunications stocks, seen as the most stable, fell the least. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 59 points, or 2.1 percent, to 2,781. The stock market has been sinking since last Friday as an Aug. 2 deadline for raising the U.S. borrowing limit approaches. With no sign of a compromise between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, investors are becoming more fearful that the U.S.'s triple-A credit rating could be lowered or that the country might default on its debt. Either event would raise interest rates across the board and slow down the already weak U.S. economy.
House Speaker John Boehner had planned to hold a vote on his debt-limit plan Wednesday. That was postponed after conservative lawmakers balked at the proposal and congressional budget officials said it would have cut spending less than advertised. The White House had also threatened to veto Boehner's plan.
"As hours pass and the uncertainty builds, I think the market is starting to price in the potential that we might not have a solution by Aug. 2," said Channing Smith, managing director of Capital Advisors Inc. "Confidence in our political system is beginning to fade." The Dow is down 2.2 percent this week. It is headed for its biggest weekly decline since early June. The S&P 500 is also down 2.2 percent, and the Russell 2000 is down 4 percent.
Some analysts fear that if the debt issue is not resolved stocks could fall as much as they did in 2008, when the House of Representatives voted down a bill to create the Troubled Asset Relief Program on Sept. 29. On that day, the Dow plunged about 778 points. Four days later, Congress passed the TARP bill and President George W. Bush quickly signed it into law. The Dow then jumped as much as 946 points in a week.
News Alert: S.&P. 500-Stock Index Closes Down 2 Percent The New York Times Wednesday, July 27, 2011 -- 4:08 PM EDT -----
S.&P. 500-Stock Index Closes Down 2 Percent
Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street as the impasse over lifting the nation’s debt limit wore on in Washington. In addition, economic statistics were disappointing and some companies delivered corporate earnings fell short of expectations.
The broad stock market, as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, was down more than 2 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average of 30 stocks lost nearly 200 points, or about 1.6 percent. During the trading session, the technology-heavy Nasdaq index fell as low as 3 percent but closed down 2.65 percent.
