U.S. stocks retreat amid debt debate
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan on Monday, July 25, 2011. Credit: AP
U.S. stocks retreated yesterday, pulling the Standard & Poor's 500 index down from a two-week high, as Republicans and Democrats wrangled over how to raise the federal debt limit and avoid a government default.
The S&P 500 fell 7.59 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,337.43 after slumping as much as 1 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 88.36, or 0.70 percent, to 12,592.80. The Nasdaq index fell 16.03, or 0.56 percent, to 2842.80.
Phone companies led losses among 10 groups in the S&P 500, losing 1.4 percent. Kimberly-Clark slipped 2.1 percent after reporting a decline in second-quarter profit, hurt by higher commodity prices.
Negotiations over the nation's debt limit have whipsawed stocks.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.6 percent on July 19, the biggest gain since March, amid optimism President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans would agree to raise the ceiling before the Aug. 2 deadline.
Stocks fell the next day on concern a Senate plan faced resistance from House Republicans.
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