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A strengthening greenback and concerns regarding an economic recovery saw Wall Street lose ground for the second consecutive day. Most sectors fell victim to the sell-off, with tech stocks leading the slide.

In employment news, the Labor Department’s weekly report revealed initial jobless claims were unchanged from the previous week. Jobless claims totalled 505,000.

The Dow Jones lost 93.87 points, or 0.9%, to 10,332.44, the S&P 500 slid 14.90 points, or 1.34%, to 1,094.90 and the NASDAQ fell 36.32 points, or 1.66%, to 2,156.82.

Tech stocks struggled on the back of bearish earnings outlooks and broker downgrades. Apple and Microsoft shed 2.7% and 1.1%.

Yahoo! and Oracle lost 2.3% and 1.8%, while Intel dropped 4.1%.

Financials were also entrenched in the red. Goldman Sachs shed 2.3% as Bank of America and Wells Fargo slid 1.7% and 1.9%.

Morgan Stanley dropped 3.1%, while JPMorgan lost 1.9% after announcing it would acquire the half of UK broker Cazenove that it does not already own.

Sears shed 3.7% despite the retailer reporting a better than expected quarterly loss.  Macy’s dipped 1.6%, while sector heavyweight Wal-Mart put on 0.7%.

Dow components Aluminium producer Alcoa and machinery manufacturer Caterpillar lost 3.9% and 1.4%.

Energy majors Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil fell 2%, 1.9% and 0.8% respectively.

NYMEX light crude oil for December delivery weakened US$2.12 to settle at US$77.46 a barrel.

COMEX gold for December delivery gained US60c to a record close of US$1,141.30 per ounce.  

European Markets

European stocks had their worst session this month as falling commodity prices placed pressure on related stocks. Investors booked profits with losses focussed on the banks and the miners.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 shed 74.43 points, or 1.39% to 5,267.70. The French CAC40 lost 67.94 points, or 1.77% to 3,760.22, while the German DAX fell 85.43 points, or 1.48% to 5,702.18.

Financials were heavily sold. In the UK Barclays and HSBC slid 2.8% and 1.3%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank lost 2.5% and 2.9%.

Credit Agricole fell 2.8% as France’s largest two lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale shed 1.1% each.

Insurers AXA and Aviva dropped 2.3% and 2%.

Technology stocks weakened after BofA Merrill Lynch cut its 2010 growth outlook for the global semiconductor industry. Alcatel-Lucent and Infineon sank 3.7% and 7.2%.

Groupe Danone fell 4.4% after the yoghurt maker decreased its medium-term revenue growth target.

A drop in metals prices sent miners lower. Antofagasta, Xstrata and Anglo American dropped 5.4%, 5.1% and 3.9% respectively.

Aussie peers BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shed 2.8% and 3.8%.

Energy stocks tracked the price of crude lower. Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total lost 1.7%, 1.3% and 1.1%.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei dropped as the nation’s largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial announced a capital raising. A strengthening yen saw exporters weaken.

The Nikkei 225 fell 127.33, or 1.32% to 9,549.47.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial shed 3.7% after announcing it would raise US$11 billion. The announcement raised concerns of further equity raisings within the financial sector.

Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group slumped 6.6% and 4.6%.

Brokerage Nomura Holdings fell 4.9%.

Nomura Real Estate slumped 8.6% as it prepares to raise capital.

Automakers Toyota and Honda lost 1.7% and 3.5, while Canon and Sony slid 3.2% and 2.2%.

Mitsui Chemicals dropped 7.1% on reports the company’s taxes may increase.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hong Kong market gave up ground as investors locked in profits on an index which has doubled in value in 8 months. Banks were out of favour, while the retailers also slumped with poor economic data out of the US continuing to keep investors nervous.

The Hang Seng slumped 197.17, or 0.86% to 22,643.16.

In a wrap-up of the banks, Bank of China retreated 2.1%.

Bank of Communications and ICBC both lost 1.1%, while HSBC, which makes up one-sixth of the market, gave up 1%.

Making ground for the day was China Mobile, which added 1.1% after saying its business was similar now to pre-crisis levels.

Among the shippers, China Cosco put on 1.1%, while Pacific Basin Shipping added 3.5%.

Third party mobile phone maker, Foxconn International lost 2.8%, while Li & Fung, which makes clothes for Wal-Mart, retreated 2.5% on worries about the US economy. 

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Market Watch by egoli