Stock indexes tumble over debt anxiety
NEW YORK, July 18 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes fell Monday in late afternoon trading over investor jitters about eurozone debt crisis and the U.S. debt ceiling.
The Dow Jones industrial average recovered from intraday losses of more than 150 points to close down 94.57, or 0.76 percent, at 12,385.16.
The Nasdaq lost 24.90 points, or 0.89 percent, to finish the session at 2,764.90.
The Standard & Poor's 500 slipped 27.72 points, or 1.32 percent, to end at 2,067.99.
Investors abandoned risky assets as European sovereign-debt worries strained bond prices in some of eurozone countries. European Union leaders will meet Thursday in Brussels to discuss another bailout for the financially shaken Greece.
Meanwhile, the stalemate over raising the U.S. debt ceiling remained. Senate leaders indicated they would unveil their backup plan -- which includes more budget debate by the end of the year in exchange for approving raising the country's debt limit to avoid default -- later this week. The House of Representatives postponed a scheduled vote on a balanced budget amendment until next week, Roll Call reported.
The listed volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 3.595 shares, with 454 stocks advancing and 2,603 declining.
The 10-year treasury note was 2.92 percent
The euro was $1.4089, down from $1.4144 Friday. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was 79.07, showing no change from Friday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Average closed at 9.972.59, up 36.47.
In London, the FTSE 100 closed at 5,766.36, off 77.30.
SEC gets order freeze assets of Swiss cos.
WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it obtained asset freezes against three Swiss entities it charged with insider trading.
The illegal action came ahead of a July 11 public announcement that Swiss-based Lonza Group Ltd. would acquire Connecticut-based Arch Chemical, the SEC said Monday in a release.
The SEC's complaint alleges Compania International Financiera S.A., Coudree Capital Gestion S.A., and Chartwell Asset Management Services bought more than 1 million common shares of Arch Chemicals July 5-8, the agency said in a release. The firms then started selling the shares of Arch common stock for millions of dollars in profits.
The complaint said public information about the acquisition was not available when the defendants acted.
"The SEC's swift action to secure a judicial freeze order only four days after the observation of suspicious trading prevented millions of dollars from moving offshore," said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.
The court order, issued Friday but not reported by the SEC until Monday, froze certain assets of the defendants and ordered repatriation of assets obtained from the trading described in the agency's complaint.
Summit may be 'last chance' for eurozone
BRUSSELS, July 18 (UPI) -- European Union leaders worked to finalize a bailout package for Greece and prevent a worsening of the region's debt crisis ahead of a meeting Thursday.
Eurozone leaders also are trying to resolve a long-time feud between Germany and the European Central Bank over the role of private bondholders, MarketWatch.com reported Monday.
"If there's nothing conclusive that makes sense to the markets and eases the burden on the [peripheral nations], the market is not going to be too impressed," possibly sending borrowing costs for the troubled countries such as Spain and Italy to unsustainable levels, said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers in Dublin.
Thursday's meeting could be considered a "last chance" for European leaders to take action needed to avert a breakdown of the economic and monetary union, McQuaid said.
The worries come after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on state television Sunday she would not attend Thursday's summit in Brussels unless an agreement is on the table to make private-sector bondholders share in the cost of a new Greek bailout.
However, ECB President Jean-Claude Tricket said the central bank wouldn't accept as collateral bonds of any government declared to be in default.
"If a country defaults, we will no longer be able to accept its defaulted government bonds as normal eligible collateral," Trichet said. "The governments would then have to step in themselves to put things right. That would then be their duty."
Housing expect to improve over last year
MCLEAN, Va., July 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. housing market, aided by a recovering rental sector, is unlikely to experience a "double-dip" setback, Freddie Mac said Monday.
In its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for July, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said housing likely will follow the performance of the overall economy for the rest of 2011. Additionally, home sales are projected to be above last year's numbers by 3- to 5 percent.
The report also indicated that despite record levels of home buyer affordability and historically low mortgage rates, households were concerned about their financial futures and were holding off making major purchases, notably homes.
The rental housing market showed the clearest signs of a turnaround with the apartment property price index showing a 15.2 percent gain over the year through the first quarter of 2011.
"Following June's labor market report, households are naturally concerned about their financial futures which is being reflected in the housing market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist. "Yet, the single-family market will likely improve over the balance of 2011, in keeping with positive [gross domestic product] forecasts for the United States."
