US stocks slid today, with losses piling up in a late-session selloff amid renewed concerns about the strength of the budding global economic recovery from recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 72.55 points (0.66 per cent) to 10,894.44 at the market close, extending a modest loss yesterday.
The tech-rich Nasdaq composite fell 5.65 points (0.23 per cent) to 2431.16 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 6.97 points (0.59 per cent) to 1182.46.
"The upward momentum that has taken the major equity markets to multi-month highs and prompted talk of the Dow reaching the 11,000 mark has stalled amid resurfacing concerns that the global economic recovery could be threatened," Charles Schwab & Co analysts said in a client note.
A report showing demand for consumer credit was much weaker than expected in February, released in the afternoon, pressured already weakened sentiment that led the market to open lower.
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The Federal Reserve said credit balances fell by $US11.5 billion ($12.4 billion) from January, to $US2.448 trillion ($2.64 trillion), down 5.6 per cent from a year ago. The consensus analyst forecast was a drop of $US0.7 billion ($754.96 million).
"This was a disappointing report, showing that households are continuing to pare back credit," Barclays Capital analysts told clients.
Shares close lower on retail dipStock market on best roll since ‘07
