Wall Street slips on euro zone, growth worries
Stocks fell on Tuesday as record-high yields at a Spanish debt auction and a downward revision of U.S. economic growth raised concerns about the global economy.
The market showed a muted reaction to minutes from the Federal Reserve's recent policy meeting in which some officials said they were prepared to do more to support the domestic economy. But the committee decided to hold off taking action amid an uncertain outlook.
The market is pretty much in the wait-and-see mode now, said Mark Lamkin, chief investment strategist at Lamkin Wealth Management in Louisville, Kentucky.
The politicans here and overseas need to show more efforts in terms of what they are going to do for the market to see a sustained rally, he said.
Stocks briefly turned positive after the International Monetary Fund introduced a six-month liquidity line to help countries at risk from the euro zone crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 32.47 points, or 0.28 percent, at 11,514.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 2.16 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,190.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was off 2 points, or 0.1 percent, at 2,520.
Worries about debt problems in the United States and Europe pushed the benchmark S&P 500 down more than 5 percent over the past week.
Before the market's open, data showed the U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, down from the government's prior estimate of 2.5 percent one month ago.
In Europe, Spain's short-term borrowing costs hit a 14-year high on Tuesday as political uncertainty about a solution to the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis punished another vulnerable southern European country.
The S&P had fallen through a key support level at 1,200 but again managed to hold near 1,187, seen as the next technical support, representing the 61.8 percent retracement of the 2011 high to low.
Hewlett-Packard Co
Among Nasdaq stocks, Groupon Inc
Trading volume is likely to be thin this week as the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday will keep many investors on the sidelines.
(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Kenneth Barry)
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