U.S. Stocks Retreat Amid Concern on Fallout From Greek Crisis
U.S. stocks retreated, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropping the most since March, amid mounting concern about fallout from a potential Greece exit from the euro area.
Financial shares in the benchmark index fell 2 percent as Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. slipped at least 2.1 percent. The KBW Bank Index declined the most in more than three months. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, which makes about a quarter of its sales in the region that includes Europe, retreated 6.3 percent. National Bank of Greece ADRs plummeted 24 percent, and the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF tumbled 18 percent.
The S&P 500 Index sank 1.6 percent to 2,068.04 at 2:21 p.m. in New York, a more than two-month low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 274.42 points, or 1.5 percent, to 17,672.26 and erased its gain for the year. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.8 percent. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index surged 30 percent to 17.71, its biggest increase of 2015.
“We finally reached the breaking point,” said Michael James, a managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. “With so much uncertainty around a potentially negative outcome, the knee-jerk reaction will be to reduce risk assets. You have a potentially very ugly situation this week.”
Greece closed its banks and imposed capital controls, a measure that will deepen the country’s recession and risk driving it toward an exit from the euro. Talks over bailout aid with international creditors collapsed late Friday, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras unexpectedly called a July 5 referendum on the austerity demanded by creditors. The European Central Bank froze the level of emergency aid available to Greek lenders Sunday.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-28/u-s-stock-index-futures-retreat-amid-greek-euro-exit-concern