Stocks on Wall Street turned sharply lower as disappointing housing data weighed on the sectors most sensitive to the US economic recovery.The slide accelerated late in the session as traders fretted about legal wrangling between the oil industry and Was
Stocks on Wall Street turned sharply lower as disappointing housing data weighed on the sectors most sensitive to the US economic recovery.
The slide accelerated late in the session as traders fretted about legal wrangling between the oil industry and Washington over post-spill drilling restrictions.
A federal judge in New Orleans blocked an Obama administration decision for a six-month moratorium on new deep-water drilling projects. The White House has vowed to appeal the judge's ruling.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 148.89 points, or 1.4%, down at 10,293.52, led by a surprise 2.1% decline in Home Depot after the release of data showing sales of previously owned homes in the US slipped 2.2% in May.
Oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil fell 2.1% and 1.8% respectively on the oil drilling case.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.2% to 2261.80 and the S&P 500 index fell 1.6% to 1095.3, hurt by a 2.6% decline in its energy sector.
Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European stocks finished lower on another round of worries about the region's financial sector.
Spanish banks were under pressure after a modestly pessimistic review by Standard & Poor's.
BNP Paribas fell 1.9% in Paris after its downgrading by Fitch Ratings. The pan-European Stoxx 600 banks index ended down 0.8%.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne introduced a lower-than-expected tax on bank assets from the start of 2011 as part of a new budget.
Shares in Lloyds Banking Group added 4.1%, while Royal Bank of Scotland Group gained 0.7%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended down 0.5% at 256.92. The UK's FTSE 100 index fell 1% to 5246.98, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.8% to 3705.32, and Germany's DAX slid 0.4% to 6269.04.
Most Asian stock markets declined amid doubts over the pace at which the Chinese yuan might appreciate. Resource-linked shares and exporters were broadly lower.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.2% to 10112.89 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.2% to 4558.34.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.4% to 20819.08, breaking a nine-session winning streak. Korea's Kospi shed 0.5% to 1731.48 and China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1% to 2588.70.
Commodities: Oil, gold down
Signs of slowing activity in the US and doubts about the strength of the global economic recovery dampened appetite for oil futures.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 66USc, or 0.9%, to $US77.16 a barrel in New York. July Brent crude on London's ICE futures exchange declined 78USc, or 1%, to $7US8.04 a barrel.
Gold futures edged down as traders continued to cash out after a series of record highs hit over the past two weeks.
The most actively traded gold contract for August delivery is down 80USc, at $US1239.90 in New York.
Currencies: Pound up, euro down
Worse-than-expected US existing-home sales added to the wary tone in currency markets and further reduced demand for riskier assets.
The pound was able to rally against the dollar on the release of the new UK government's emergency budget, with investors deeming the plan tough enough to stave off a debt downgrade.
The euro was at $US1.2298, from $US1.2318 late on Monday. The dollar was at ¥90.62 from ¥91.00, while the euro was at ¥111.46 from ¥112.09.
The pound was at $US1.4845 from $US1.4754.
