Nikolaj Gammeltoft
Bloomberg
June 11, 2011
U.S. stocks fell for the sixth straight week, giving the Dow Jones Industrial Average its longest slump since 2002, as investor concern that the global economy is slowing intensified.
Technology stocks and consumer companies reliant on discretionary spending led losses in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, dropping more than 2.7 percent as a group. PulteGroup Inc., the nation’s biggest homebuilder, slumped 11 percent for the largest retreat in the S&P 500. Visa Inc. (V) and MasterCard Inc. (MA) decreased more than 3.6 percent after the U.S. Senate rejected a six-month delay of a Federal Reserve rule capping debit-card swipe fees set by the companies.
The S&P 500 lost 2.2 percent to 1,270.98, its lowest level since March 16. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities has also dropped for six consecutive weeks, the longest retreat since 2008. The Dow fell 199.35 points, or 1.6 percent, to 11,951.91. Its last weekly slump of this length was in October 2002, the start of a five-year bull market for equities.
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