U.S. Stocks retreated throughout Wednesday’s trading session, despite a governmental report which showed that orders of durable goods came out better than forecasts in the past month, as concerns bond holders may incur tremendous losses over their holding in Greece dampened optimism spread over the debt-laden country as European leaders seem to be divided over a common ground to prevent Europe’s debt woes from getting worse.
Meanwhile, Dow Chemical Co and Alcoa Inc lost 4.70 percent and 3.05 percent respectively, following declines among raw materials companies, in addition financials shares declined and were led by Citigroup Inc shedding nearly 1.35 percent.
While leading gains among the Technology shares, Amazon.com Inc surged 4.08 percent after the world’s largest online retailer unveiled its Kindle Fire tablet computer.
Moreover, Boise slid 9.27 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co cut its recommendations for the shares, while also Ralph Lauren Corp plunged 1.78 percent after being downgraded at Citigroup Inc, which made the share less tempting to buy.
Darden Restaurants dropped 3.51 percent, after reporting first quarter results that missed analysts’ median estimates, on the other hand, Comtech Telecommunications Corp soared 1.79 percent, after the company raised its 2012 earnings forecasts.
Virgin Media increased 2.04 percent after being upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Nomura International Plc, whereas Progress Software slumped 7.94 percent after slashing its fourth-quarter earnings forecasts.
The Dollar index which measures the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of currencies including the Euro, the Pound, and the Yen, edged down from today's opening level of 77.88 to currently trade at 77.69 recording its highest level at 77.91 and its lowest at 77.31.
Gold prices tumbled to reach $1615.69 per ounce compared to the opening price of $1642.01. Oil also eased down to reach $82.17 after opening at $83.55 per barrel.
The worst performing sectors within the Dow were the Industrials shares next to Basic Materials and Consumer Goods shares respectively. The S&P 500's worst performing sectors were Basic Materials, Consumer Goods and Financials shares respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.91 points or 0.07 percent reaching 11182.78 points, The S&P 500 shed 4.86 points or 0.41 percent reaching 1170.52 points. The NASDAQ Composite dropped 12.91 points or 12.91 percent reaching 2533.92 points, Data as of 13:15 New York Time.