Market Slides On European Debt Review: Acadiana Business Index

A negative reaction to last week's European sovereign-debt summit by credit-ratings firms sends stocks sharply lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 163 points to 12,021. Mark Lasseigne has your market report in today's Acadiana Business Index.

Fitch Ratings said that last week's summit did little to ease pressure on the sovereign-debt crisis and predicted a "significant" economic downturn in Europe in the short term. Adding to the downbeat news, Moody's Investors Service said it would review European countries' sovereign ratings.

Intel's profit warning also weighing on the Dow. The technology company's stock dropped 4% after it warned that fourth-quarter revenue will fall about $1 billion short of its previous guidance, as flooding in Thailand dismantled a large chunk of the world's hard-drive manufacturing. The warning is a sharp reversal for Intel, which has been blowing away estimates in recent quarters.

Goodyear Tire lost 1.8%. The company said shortages as a result of Thailand's flooding could spread to the market for aircraft tires as soon as February or March.

Crude oil closed at $97.77 a barrel.

And Gold settled at $1,668 an ounce.

Categories: Acadiana News