Market update: Groundhog Day? Eurozone worries resurface, equities wobble, euro slips

US stocks slid on Monday with both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 declining. The fall in share prices gave the S&P 500 its worst day since November as a result of renewed worries about the eurozone (Dow Jones  0.9%, S&P 500  1.2%). Following the news that the US Justice Department intends to sue the Standard & Poor’s rating agency over its mortgage bond ratings, the parent McGraw-Hill fell 13.8%, the worst daily loss for the shares since October 1987. Chevron was one of the biggest fallers in the Dow Jones index after UBS cut its rating to neutral. All ten sectors in the S&P 500 were lower.

Asian shares fell overnight on concerns for renewed risks in the eurozone as investors took profits after the recent rally. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.9% after closing on Monday at its highest level since April 2010. Chinese shares slid similarly (Shanghai Composite  0.5%, Hang Seng  1.5%). In Europe, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of top European shares dropped 1.5% to its lowest level of the year on Monday, but has opened up this morning gaining 0.4% at the time of writing. The FTSE 100 index is also up by 0.5%. While there are signs that equities may be steadying, the euro continues to be battered by the renewed worries, slipping another 0.4% to $1.34 in early trading. Oil was also down reflecting the uncertainties.