Stocks slide amid focus on data, Europe

Lucas Jackson / REUTERS

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

By NBC News wire services

Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET: Stocks finished Tuesday lower as investors returned after a long weekend with focus on new economic data and an upcoming meeting of European Central Bank policymakers.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed the day down 55 points, having recovered from a drop of 114 points earlier in the day.

Manufacturing shrank at its sharpest clip in more than three years in August, the third month of contraction in a row, and firms hired the fewest workers since late 2009, a survey released on Tuesday morning showed.

Moody's Investors Service has changed its outlook on the Aaa rating of the European Union to negative, warning it might downgrade the bloc if it decides to cut the ratings on Germany, France, UK and Netherlands.

In Europe, Spanish and Italian government bond yields fell after the head of the European Central Bank hinted at the scope of a much-anticipated bond buying program.

The ECB is expected to unveil its debt-purchasing plan to tackle the region's debt crisis at a policy meeting on Thursday, where it may also cut rates as the 17-nation euro area heads toward a recession.

European shares were lower, however, having already risen strongly on hopes that central bank action could start the fightback against the euro zone's chronic debt problems.

But the "positive mood remains intact on account of still high expectations that the ECB will unveil further detail of the timetable surrounding purchases of short-dated government bonds in secondary markets in response to official requests going forward," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. LLC.

On Monday, China's official purchasing managers' index fell below the 50 level that demarcates expansion from contraction for the first time since November 2011, while a similar survey from HSBC showed activity shrinking at its fastest pace since March 2009.

Xerox Corp and a wholly-owned unit that contracted with Texas to process dental claim forms are being investigated to see if they helped allow dentists to submit higher-than-required bills under the state's Medicaid system, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged to take a strong message to Beijing this week on the need to calm regional tensions over maritime disputes that have raised broader fears of military friction between the two major Pacific powers.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, expressing "grave concern" for the stagnating U.S. job market, said the central bank was prepared to take further steps to strengthen the economy if necessary.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/04/13657136-stocks-lower-amid-focus-on-data-europe?lite

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