Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Monday, as political turmoil in Greece and concerns over the effects of a potential Greek exit from the euro zone dominated market sentiment.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.05%, the S&P 500 index dropped 1.11%, while the Nasdaq Composite index declined 0.77%.
Speculation over the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone intensified, as talks aimed at forming a coalition government remained at an impasse, fuelling fears that a fresh round of elections is becoming inevitable and casting the country’s ability to uphold its fiscal commitments into doubt.
Meanwhile, concerns over the health of Spain’s banking system persisted, pushing the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds to 6.27%, the highest level since December after the country sold EUR2.90 billion of 12-month and 18-month bonds, in an auction which saw short-term borrowing costs rise.
Financials stocks were among the session’s top losers, beginning with JPMorgan, down 1.87%, after the bank announced a USD2 billion trading loss, prompting regulators to demand stiffer oversight for the banking industry. The U.S. lender lost USD15 billion in market value and a notch in its credit ratings on Friday.
Goldman Sachs wasn’t very far behind, with shares tumbling 1.90%, while Bank of America and Citigroup plummeted 1.46% and 0.92% respectively.
In the energy sector, Concho Resources dropped 0.56% after saying it would buy all of the oil and natural gas assets of Three Rivers Operating Company LLC, a portfolio company of private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, for USD1 billion in cash.
Other energy stocks tracked Concho’s losses as shares in Chevron saw shares drop 0.93% and Exxon Mobil tumbled 1.20%.
On the upside, Chesapeake Energy shares surged 6.31% after the oil company said it had received a USD3 billion loan from Goldman Sachs and Jeffries Group that will give it breathing room to sell assets and close a funding gap this year.
Elsewhere, shares in Avon Products climbed 4.85% after the beauty product company said on Sunday said it told Coty that it would consider the smaller company's USD10.7 billion takeover bid and it expected to respond within a week.
Yahoo also saw shares jump 1.85% as it was preparing to replace its CEO and give three board seats to a hedge fund led by Daniel Loeb, putting him in a strong position to influence strategy at the struggling Internet company.
In the same field, investors were anxiously watching Facebook, set to go public later this week.
Other stocks in focus included Groupon, the newly-listed discount voucher provider, expected to report earnings after the closing bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 2.93%, France’s CAC 40 plunged 2.82%, Germany's DAX plummeted 2.46%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 2.28%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.4%, while markets in Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.25%.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.05%, the S&P 500 index dropped 1.11%, while the Nasdaq Composite index declined 0.77%.
Speculation over the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone intensified, as talks aimed at forming a coalition government remained at an impasse, fuelling fears that a fresh round of elections is becoming inevitable and casting the country’s ability to uphold its fiscal commitments into doubt.
Meanwhile, concerns over the health of Spain’s banking system persisted, pushing the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds to 6.27%, the highest level since December after the country sold EUR2.90 billion of 12-month and 18-month bonds, in an auction which saw short-term borrowing costs rise.
Financials stocks were among the session’s top losers, beginning with JPMorgan, down 1.87%, after the bank announced a USD2 billion trading loss, prompting regulators to demand stiffer oversight for the banking industry. The U.S. lender lost USD15 billion in market value and a notch in its credit ratings on Friday.
Goldman Sachs wasn’t very far behind, with shares tumbling 1.90%, while Bank of America and Citigroup plummeted 1.46% and 0.92% respectively.
In the energy sector, Concho Resources dropped 0.56% after saying it would buy all of the oil and natural gas assets of Three Rivers Operating Company LLC, a portfolio company of private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, for USD1 billion in cash.
Other energy stocks tracked Concho’s losses as shares in Chevron saw shares drop 0.93% and Exxon Mobil tumbled 1.20%.
On the upside, Chesapeake Energy shares surged 6.31% after the oil company said it had received a USD3 billion loan from Goldman Sachs and Jeffries Group that will give it breathing room to sell assets and close a funding gap this year.
Elsewhere, shares in Avon Products climbed 4.85% after the beauty product company said on Sunday said it told Coty that it would consider the smaller company's USD10.7 billion takeover bid and it expected to respond within a week.
Yahoo also saw shares jump 1.85% as it was preparing to replace its CEO and give three board seats to a hedge fund led by Daniel Loeb, putting him in a strong position to influence strategy at the struggling Internet company.
In the same field, investors were anxiously watching Facebook, set to go public later this week.
Other stocks in focus included Groupon, the newly-listed discount voucher provider, expected to report earnings after the closing bell.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 2.93%, France’s CAC 40 plunged 2.82%, Germany's DAX plummeted 2.46%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 2.28%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 0.4%, while markets in Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.25%.