In other commodity news, the price of oil fell $1.17 to $98.67 a barrel. BY BERNARD CONDON | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ADVERTISING NEW YORK — Stocks had their worst day of the year Friday after Greece hit a roadblock on
BY BERNARD CONDON | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Stocks had their worst day of the year Friday after Greece hit a roadblock on its way to a critical bailout.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 89.23 points, or 0.7 percent, at 12,801.23. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 finished down 9.31 points to 1,342.64. It was the first losing week for S&P this year.
Just a day earlier, investors had bought stocks after Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the heads of the three parties backing his government agreed to slash wages, lay off civil service workers and cut government spending.
That was seen as a step toward Greece’s securing a 130 billion euro international bailout it must have to avoid defaulting on its debt next month and sending a shock through the world financial system.
On Friday, European finance ministers insisted Greece agree to deeper cuts in wages and spending. More than 15,000 people swarmed the streets of Athens, some hurling paving stones at police. Four cabinet ministers have resigned over the cuts.
“The economy in Greece is deteriorating faster than anticipated, and the austerity measures aren’t particularly popular,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott. “There could be a disorderly default.”
The decline in U.S. stocks was broad, with all 10 industry categories in the S&P 500 down. Materials stocks fell the most, down 1.8 percent. Energy and financial stocks both fell more than 1 percent.
The Nasdaq composite closed down 23.35 points at 2,903.88.
The price of gold fell $16, or nearly 1 percent, to settle at $1,725 an ounce. Gold usually rises when stocks fall because it’s seen as a safe place to park money when markets are volatile, but that relationship has broken down recently. Many investors now worry that gold is too expensive after a 26 percent surge over the past year.
In other commodity news, the price of oil fell $1.17 to $98.67 a barrel.
