(RTTNews) - Stocks saw considerable weakness during trading on Monday, as traders expressed continued concerns about the latest developments overseas. The losses on the day extended a recent downward for the markets, which have trended lower for most of May.
After falling sharply at the open, the major averages staged a recovery in mid-day trading but moved back to the downside going into the close. The Dow fell 125.25 points or 1 percent to 12,695.35, the Nasdaq dropped 31.24 points or 1.1 percent to 2,902.58 and the S&P 500 slid 15.04 points or 1.1 percent to 1,338.35.
With the steep losses on the day, the major averages all ended the session at their worst closing levels in over three months.
The continued weakness on Wall Street came amid lingering concerns about the political uncertainty in Greece, as the debt-plagued nation could be forced to hold a new round of elections due to lawmakers' inability to form a coalition government.
Peter Boockvar, managing director at Miller Tabak, noted that another Greek election would basically be an up or down vote on the country's Euro membership.
"The growing possibility of Greece saying bye bye has put the entire region into the realm of the unknown in terms of the economic ripple effects," Boockvar said.
Traders also kept a close eye on developments in China, where the central bank announced over the weekend that it would lower the reserve requirement for banks by 50 basis points in a bid to inject more liquidity into the system.
The move added to recent concerns about the outlook for growth in China, which represents the world's second largest economy behind the U.S.
In corporate news, shares of Yahoo (YHOO) bucked the downtrend by the broader markets after the online media giant announced the resignation of CEO Scott Thompson, who left the company over a resume padding scandal.
The company named Ross Levinsohn as interim CEO. Yahoo also said Fred Amoroso has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors, replacing Roy Bostock.
Sector News
Gold stocks turned in some of the markets' worst performances on the day, resulting in a 3.4 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. With the loss, the index ended the session at a two-year low.
The weakness among gold stocks came amid a sharp drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for June delivery falling $23 to $1,561 an ounce.
Significant weakness was also visible among financial stocks, as traders continued to worry about JP Morgan's (JPM) revelation of a $2 billion trading loss.
Oil service stocks also saw substantial weakness on the day, moving lower along with the price of crude oil. With crude for June delivering sliding $1.35 to $94.78 a barrel, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index fell by 2.2 percent.
Most of the other major sectors also moved to the downside, with steel, housing, chemical, and airline stocks posting notable losses.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended the day down by 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all saw significant weakness on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plunged 2.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index tumbled by 2 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries showed a strong upward move amid the overseas worries. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 5.3 basis points to a seven-month closing low of 1.788 percent.
Looking Ahead
While the latest round of talks among Greek politicians is likely to attract some attention on Tuesday, traders are also likely to keep an eye on the release of a slew of U.S. economic data, including key reports on retail sales, consumer prices, and homebuilder confidence.
On the earnings front, home improvement retail giant Home Depot (HD) is among the companies scheduled to release its quarterly results before the start of trading on Tuesday.
short cu, ung; long uso, tlt
I am shorting AAP and AZO. They are very overweighted to the upside and the higher they are the harder they fall. Just look at GMCR so watch SBUX. Can you say Booyah! Retailers EL, RL, LULU & UA. Booyah!
i'll watch the consumer no's closely, i'd love to start shorting things like TJX or BBBY!