Stock market sees month worst loss

Published:  5 Apr at 3 PM

As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, European debt worsened again as a worry over Wall Street drove stocks to their biggest loss in a month. The Dow Jones industrial lost 125 points, while the price of gold plummeted to its lowest since January.
This is the second time in 2012 the Dow has seen a triple-digit decline, with the average gaining 8% from January - March, its strongest first quarter since 1998. However, it has already lost 1% in April.

The Dow went down 179 points earlier yesterday, before recovering ad closing down 124.80 points at 13,074.75. Four of the 30 stocks which make up the median rose for the day.
A unsatisfactory auction of Spanish government debt revealed a weaker investor confidence in the country's finances. Last week, Spain announced tax hikes and budget cuts, which could damage its economy further.

Spanish bond yields shot higher, increasing costs for the country to raise any money. Benchmark stock indexes dropped 2.8% in Germany, 2.7% in France and 2.3% in Britain.
Investors had hardly stopped fretting about the fate of Greece as Spain took its position as another state to worry about. John Manley, who is chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, compared the situation to cockroaches. No one is ever sure “how many are out there”, he explained.