Markets slide to close lower Friday

NEW YORK, June 24 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks tumbled Friday as concerns about Italian banks and Greece's financial crisis eclipsed a better-than-expected rebound in durable goods.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 91 points, or 0.8 percent, to 11,959 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 12 points, or 1 percent, to finish afternoon trading at 1,271 points. The Nasdaq dropped 29 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,658 points.

Several Italian bank stocks were suspended Friday after a sudden drop in their share prices, The Wall Street Journal reported. A spokeswoman for Borsa Italiana, Italy's main stock exchange, said the suspension occurred because of high volatility and was temporary. Moody's Investors Service said it was considering downgrading the credit ratings of prominent Italian banks.

In Greece, the ruling Socialist party will attempt to push a full line of austerity measures through Parliament. Opposition parties have been vocal about resisting the strategy, which would, if it passes, allow Greece to receive a new tranche in a $155 billion international aid package.

"The problems in Europe are real. They're difficult and investors don't have a clear sense that they're yet resolved," Paul Quinsee, chief investment officer of U.S. stocks at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told the Journal. "As long as that's the case, it's likely we continue to see this hang over the market."

On the U.S. economic front, orders for durable goods rebounded in May.

On the New York Stock Exchange 1,071 issues advanced and 1,894 declined on volume of 3.479 billion shares.

The benchmark 10-year treasury note was yielded 2.85 percent.

The euro fell to $1.419 from Thursday's $1.4257. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 80.425 yen from Wednesday's 80.52 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.85 percent, 81.97, to 9,678.71.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.41 percent, 23.34, to 5,697.72.