Markets recoup losses, but close down
Specialist Douglas Johnson, center, works with traders at his post on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (June 22, 2012) Credit: AP
A late recovery on Wall Street wiped out most of the stock market's losses Thursday, leaving the Dow Jones industrial average down just 25 points. It had been down 177 points but came back sharply in the last 20 minutes of trading.
Many insurance stocks fell sharply after the Supreme Court upheld most of President Barack Obama's health care law. The stocks of hospital operators rose. The ruling upheld the central provision of the law, a requirement that almost all Americans carry health insurance.
There were varying explanations for the late comeback on the stock market. European leaders were holding their first day of summit talks on the region's sluggish economic growth and collapse of investor confidence in the finances of weak countries like Greece and Portugal. No concrete plan emerged, but rumors swirled that the European Central Bank could cut interest rates, and that European leaders were becoming more conciliatory, rather than just confrontational, as they worked on how to prop up troubled countries that are too big to bail out.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 24.75 points at 12,602.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.21 percent to end at 1,329.04 and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.90 percent to 2,849.49. -- AP
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Thieves steal hundreds of toys ... Woman critically hurt in hit-and-run ... Rising beef prices ... Out East: Nettie's Country Bakery
