NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks tumbled more than 2 percent on Tuesday after a proposed Greek referendum threatened to upend a European bailout plan to contain the sovereign debt crisis.

Analysts said if Greek voters reject the unpopular bailout, it would result in a "hard default" by Greece, causing bigger losses for banks and raising the threat of systemic risk.

Greek Premier George Papandreou said he will put the nation's bailout deal through a referendum, potentially undoing last week's long-awaited agreement by EU leaders.

The news slammed European stocks, particularly the region's banks, which slumped 9.5 percent.

U.S. stocks briefly pared losses after the leaders of Germany and France said they were determined to fully implement decisions made at the European Union Summit last week.

"This was completely unanticipated … It is not needed and it is just sort of an internal political thing," said John Canally investment strategist and economist for LPL Financial in Boston.

"This vote in Greece is going to hang over the market for next week or so, unfortunately."

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 273.40 points, or 2.29 percent, to 11,681.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 32.38 points, or 2.58 percent, to 1,220.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 76.34 points, or 2.84 percent, to 2,608.07.

Stocks struggled to hold a key technical level surpassed after equities posted their best month in 20 years in October.

U.S. bank shares were lower, with the KBW bank index off 4 percent. Morgan Stanley tumbled 9.4 percent to $15.98.

Adding to the gloomy sentiment, factory activity in Asia's big export economies slowed to their weakest rate in nearly three years in October, while UK manufacturing suffered a sharp decline, reigniting fears of a global slowdown.

The S&P 500 traded below its 14-day moving average for the first time since October 7, pointing to a possible shift in short-term momentum. The benchmark also broke through strong support at 1,220 several times.

Economic data showed the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed in October, in line with trends around the world, though improvement in new orders suggested resiliency in the sector.

"If we can keep Europe out of the headlines and Washington out of the headlines and just focus on the economic data and the corporate data we'd be in great shape. Unfortunately, we can't do that, and every once in a while we get these flare-ups," said Canally.

In a move that put further pressure on commodity prices, Japan vowed to step into foreign exchange markets again to curb excessive speculation. The government sold a record $98.7 billion on Monday in yen to curb its strength, which is hurting Japan's export-based economy.

The U.S. dollar index rose 1.7 percent. U.S. oil futures dropped 3.6 percent, and copper prices fell 3.5 percent. Many commodities are priced in the greenback, making a spike in dollar prices more expensive for traders in other currencies and saps demand.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

NEW YORK – Stocks are closing lower, led by banks, after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported that a slowdown in investment banking hurt its results in the third quarter. An afternoon rally in technology stocks limited some of the market’s losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 41 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 11,478. It had been down as many as 141. The S&P 500 lost 4, or 0.3 percent, at 1,204. The Nasdaq composite is up 16, or 0.6 percent, at 2,620.

JPMorgan is considered one of the strongest banks, so its results don’t bode well for other financial companies.

Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was lighter than average, 3.9 billion.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks closed down on Monday but staged a comeback in late trade after fears of possible Greek debt default diminished on news of a possible deal over bailout funds.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 108.38 points, or 0.94 percent, at 11,400.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 11.99 points, or 0.99 percent, at 1,204.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 9.48 points, or 0.36 percent, at 2,612.83.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq closed lower to end eight straight days of gains on Monday as some large-cap tech stocks slid in a late-day sell-off.

The Dow cut its gains and the S&P 500 ended a thinly traded session flat as optimism faded over China’s move to tame its growth, and as some technical indicators suggested a near-term pullback could be in the cards.

About 7.32 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, well below the year’s daily average of 8.62 billion.

Stocks earlier had risen as optimism China would not aggressively head off growth boosted energy and materials stocks.

Companies that sell oil, like Chevron Corp (CVX.N), and those that make mining equipment, like Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), drove the Dow higher. At the close, both Caterpillar and Chevron were up 1.5 percent or more. The PHLX oil service index (.OSX) rose 1.3 percent.

Investors had feared China would raise interest rates to slow growth, but instead it merely increased the amount of extra capital top banks must hold, a less severe move by the world’s second-largest economy.

“Even though isn’t fueling us 100 percent, if it was to tighten, that would mean less strength in a weak recovery here,” said Jeffrey Friedman, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 18.24 points, or 0.16 percent, to end at 11,428.56, well off its intraday high of 11,480.03. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) inched up a mere 0.06 of a point, or 0.00 percent, to finish at 1,240.46. But the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) fell 12.63 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 2,624.91.

The S&P 500 reached another high for the year on Monday, advancing to an intraday peak at 1,246.73. The index’s steady climb since breaching 1,228 — a key retracement of the 2007-2009 bear market losses — has been judged a sign of further gains, even as the relative strength index suggests stocks are nearing an overbought condition.

APPLE PARES GAIN, DELl DROPS

The Nasdaq ended the day solidly lower as some tech names, including Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and EMC Corp (EMC.N), traded off highs reached earlier in the session. Apple rose more than 1 percent in afternoon trading, but at the close, it was up just 0.4 percent at $321.67. The stock is up 53 percent so far this year.

“We’ve definitely seen a lot of strength in large-cap tech recently, and they took a bit of a pause in the afternoon with people winding down at the end of the day,” said Timothy Harder, chief investment officer at Peak Capital Investment Services in Denver. “There wasn’t much to spur trading, and in the absence of any real news and light volume, there wasn’t much to keep us up.”

Healthcare stocks had jumped briefly on news that a Virginia judge invalidated a key part of the March healthcare overhaul championed by President Obama, but these shares quickly fell back. After rising as much as 1.6 percent, the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index (.HMO) slipped 0.3 percent. Shares of health insurer Aetna (AET.N) rose 1 percent to $30.92.

In deal news, General Electric Co (GE.N) said it would buy British oilfield services company Wellstream Holdings Plc (WSML.L) while Dell Inc (DELL.O) agreed to buy data storage company Compellent Technologies Inc (CML.N).

GE’s stock shed 0.6 percent to $17.62 after reaching a deal to buy Wellstream by raising its bid for the British oil drilling pipe maker by 6 percent to $1.3 billion.

Dell fell 3.9 percent to $13.36 and was one of the biggest percentage losers in both the S&P and Nasdaq 100 (.NDX) after it sweetened its cash offer for Compellent to $27.75 a share. Compellent fell 2.5 percent to $27.98 after trading above $34 last week.

Private equity firm Bain Capital agreed to buy IMCD, valuing the Dutch chemicals firm at around $857.5 million, while scientific instruments maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO.N) is set to acquire Dionex Corp (DNEX.O) for $2.1 billion.

Thermo Fisher shares rose 4.8 percent to $55.56 and Dionex jumped 20 percent to $117.83.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s tax deal with Republicans will likely win grudging passage in the U.S. Congress, backers and critics agreed, after Obama clashed with liberals in his own party who branded it a giveaway to the rich.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 8 to 7, while on the Nasdaq, about eight stocks fell for every five that rose.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks reversed course and trimmed losses, with the Dow briefly moving into positive territory on strength in Travelers Companies (TRV.N) and 3M Co
(MMM.N).

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) slipped 1.85 points, or 0.02 percent, to 10,810.19 after rising temporarily. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) shed 1.89 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,140.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) lost 6.39 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,363.38.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks opened lower on Friday after data showed U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the second quarter, underscoring worries about the recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 81.74 points, or 0.78 percent, at 10,385.42. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) was down 9.92 points, or 0.90 percent, at 1,091.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 23.76 points, or 1.06 percent, at 2,227.93.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Theodore d’Afflisio)

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Stocks trimmed losses to trade around breakeven on Friday after a report showed consumer sentiment rose in June to its highest since January 2008.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 8.46 points, or 0.08 percent, to 10,144.34. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) gained 0.82 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,074.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dropped 3.51 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,213.91.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)