New York, Jan 23 (DPA) Major US stock indices plummeted Friday, marking the worst three-day stretch since March as President Barack Obama pushed for a major crackdown on the risky behaviours of Wall Street.
Financial firms led the stock declines for the second straight day after Obama proposed Thursday to curb the size of banks and stop them from engaging in proprietary trading that doesn’t benefit
clients.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 216.9 points, or 2.09 percent, to 10,172.98. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index tumbled 24.72 points, or 2.21 percent, to 1,091.76. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 60.41 points, or 2.67 per cent, to 2,205.29.
US stocks plunged by similar margins Thursday after Obama’s announcement. For the week, the Dow was down 5.02 percent, the S&P 500 fell 4.94 percent and the Nasdaq lost 4.81 percent.
European stocks plummeted more than 1 percent earlier in the day on fears the European Union would follow suit with a similar crackdown to Obama’s.
Also weighing on US investors were concerns that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s confirmation for a second term at the central bank might be in trouble, after Democratic senators Russ Feingold and Barbara Boxer said they would oppose his nomination.
Web giant Google’s stock plunged 5.7 percent despite reporting Thursday night that fourth-quarter profits more than quadrupled from a year earlier to $1.97 billion. The earnings were lower than optimistic analysts had hoped.
The US currency dropped against the euro to 70.74 euro cents from 70.97 euro cents on Thursday. The dollar dropped against the Japanese currency to 89.84 yen from 90.42 yen the previous day.
