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Wall Street retreated sharply Monday on more signs
of economic weakness and executive shake-ups at two major banks _
reminders of the ongoing fallout from the credit crisis. The Dow
Jones industrial average fell more than 140 points. Two key economic
reports indicated that the economy is still struggling. As expected,
the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index for May
showed its fourth straight monthly decline, while the Commerce Department
said construction spending dipped in April for the sixth time in
seven months due to a drop in home building.
Meanwhile, the market drew no comfort from news out of the ailing
financial sector. Wachovia Corp. chief executive Ken Thompson has
been forced out, Washington Mutual Inc. said it is replacing chief
executive Kerry Killinger as chairman and British lender Bradford
& Bingley issued a poor financial outlook and said it is selling
a 23 percent stake to a private equity firm.
Thompson became the third CEO of a major U.S. financial institution
to lose the top job as a result of the credit crisis. His departure
from the nation's fourth-largest bank was not entirely unexpected,
after being stripped of his chairman title just about a month ago.
Still, his stepping down was a reminder that the financial system
is still contending with the aftermath of the nation's prolonged
credit problems.
"There's just a little bit of trepidation here," said Richard Sparks,
a senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
He noted that the S&P 500 neared the 1,400 level Friday, which has
proven a tough level to breach in recent weeks. "There's just no
big catalyst on the horizon to get the market up and over that hurdle
... It seems to me like one of those dreary Mondays without any positive
news out there."
Crude oil prices did not give investors any respite. After slipping
last week and moving lower in early trading, light, sweet crude rebounded
$1.15 to $128.50 a barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
By midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 140.37,
or 1.11 percent, to 12,497.95, after gaining last week on better-than-expected
economic data and a pullback in oil prices. Broader stock indicators
also dropped Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13.15,
or 0.94 percent, to 1,387.23. The Nasdaq composite index fell 32.90,
or 1.30 percent, to 2,489.76. Government bonds rose as stocks pulled
back. The 10-year Treasury note's yield, which moves opposite its
price, fell to 4.04 percent from 4.06 percent late Friday.