Stocks drop amid dollar gain
Stocks fell this afternoon as the dollar gained ground and commodity prices retreated, CNNMoney.com reported.
All three indexes – the Standard & Poor’s 500, the Nasdaq composite and the Dow Jones industrial average – were down by more than 1 percent.
The drop in the Dow, which was down 132 points early this afternoon, was led by Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The S&P 500 fell 13 points, and the Nasdaq composite lost 33 points. Tech stocks CA Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Yahoo Inc. were the worst performers on both indexes.
The dollar rose 1 percent against the euro and the British pound.
“Investors have been focused on short-term changes in the direction of the dollar,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RBC Wealth Management, adding that a stronger dollar could make it difficult for U.S. companies to compete overseas.
“Investors are trying to figure out if the recent decline in commodities is a signal toward weak U.S. economic growth, or simply the rotation of money out of a hot, crowded area of the market,” he said.