US stocks plunge for eighth straight day

US stocks wiped out most of their gains for 2011 on Tuesday, plunging as poor economic data overshadowed a congressional deal to raise the country's debt ceiling and avoid a default. It was the eighth straight day down for the US markets, the longest losing streak since October 2008, and saw the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices close below where they started the year, while the Dow was at its lowest since mid-March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed off 265.87 points (2.19 per cent) at 11,866.77. The broader S&P 500 dropped 32.89 points (2.56 per cent) to 1,254.05, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 75.37 points (2.75 per cent) to 2669.24. Markets were unimpressed by the deal signed by President Barack Obama to end a months-long fight over raising the US borrowing limit that had led the country to the edge of an unimaginable default on its debt. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. Related Coverage Eurozone fear: World markets slide End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. With that uncertainty cleared, though, traders focused on data that showed US consumer spending declined in June, the first drop in nearly two years that pointed to the economy stalling at midyear.