Wall Street falls steeply with China, Greece fears paramount
Reuters - Apr 17, 2015
The S&P 500 posted its biggest percentage loss since March 25 on Friday as investors shunned risk amid new trading regulations in China, renewed worries about Greece running out of money, and tepid U.S. corporate earnings.
Selling followed sharp overseas stocks declines and was broad, with all 10 major S&P 500 sectors losing ground.
Among the biggest drags, the S&P financials index was down 1.3 percent, with shares of Dow component American Express falling 4.4 percent to $77.32 after revenue missed analysts' estimates, partly due to the currency impact.
The Dow and S&P 500 both snapped two weeks of gains. For the week, the Dow was down 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 down 1 percent and the Nasdaq down 1.3 percent.
Both Honeywell International and General Electric blamed the strong dollar for lower revenue. Shares of Honeywell were down 2.1 percent at $101.70, while GE shares were down 0.1 percent at $27.25.
China's securities regulator warned investors to be cautious as Chinese shares hit seven-year highs. China allowed fund managers to lend stocks for short-selling and expanded the number of stocks investors can short.