(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished with losses as a stronger dollar pressurized energy stocks and other commodity shares. Stocks also retreated as worse than expected economic data dented investor optimism.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 187.13 points or 2.13% to finish at 8,612.13. The S&P 500 shed 22.49 points or 2.38% to end at 923.72. The Nasdaq Composite declined 42.42 points or 2.28% to 1,816.38.
A release by the New York Federal Reserve Bank showed that Empire state index, a measure of manufacturing activity, fell to negative 9.4 in June from negative 4.6 in May .Economists expected the index to fall to negative 3.0.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Index fell to 15 from 16 in May. Analysts had expected the index to climb by one point.
Dollar climbed against the world's major currencies, including Euro, after Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Saturday said that there was no near-term alternative to the U.S. dollar as the world's leading reserve currency.
Shares of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:
AA), the largest aluminum maker, plunged 77 cents or 6.42% to $11.22.
Equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:
CAT) lost $1.63 or 4.32% to end at $36.10.
Bank of America (NYSE:
BAC) jumped 75 cents or 5.78% to $13.72.
Shares of airplane maker Boeing Co. (NYSE:
BA) slumped $1.94 or 3.77% to end at $49.50.
Merck & Co. (NYSE:
MRK) dropped $1.11 or 4.26% to $24.97. Pfizer (NYSE:
PFE) slipped 58 cents or 3.93% to $14.18.Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:
JNJ) fell $1.25 or 2.23% to $54.81.
Energy stocks declined. Chevron Corp. (NYSE:
CVX) sank $1.58 or 2.17% to end at $71.09. Shares of Exxon Mobil (NYSE:
XOM) decreased 98 cents or 1.33% to $72.80.
Among financials, JP Morgan (NYSE:
JPM) slid $1.13 or 3.22% to $34. Wells Fargo (NYSE:
WFC) subtracted 77 cents or 3.02% to $24.71.
