Egypt Crisis Sends Stocks Falling
The LA Times reports:
U.S. stock-index futures fell as investors speculated that Egypt's crisis would slow the global recovery.
Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 index expiring in March tumbled 0.4% to 1,267 during trading Monday morning in Tokyo, while Dow Jones industrial average futures retreated 79 points, or 0.7%, to 11,696. Middle East shares sank Sunday, sending Abu Dhabi's index down 3.7%, its biggest drop in 14 months.
"The situation in Egypt is the catalyst for a downturn," said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Minneapolis-based Wells Capital Management, which oversees about $340 billion. "We have a market that is vulnerable to a technical correction. There's an investor mindset that's been expecting that to happen for a while now, given where the market is and how fast it's come up."
Oil, meanwhile, advanced for a second straight day in New York, with crude for March delivery climbing as much as 1% to $90.19 a barrel Sunday in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Stoked by fears that unrest in the Middle East could disrupt fuel supplies, oil futures increased 4.3% on Jan. 28, the most since September 2009. Any disruption to Middle East oil supplies could "bring real harm," U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on a conference call.
