Stocks fell sharply Monday as lower oil prices and more geopolitical unrest raised concerns that the recession may not end as soon as some had hoped. Stocks fell steadily in the first two hours of trading and did not recover. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and fell against the yen. The movement in the dollar contributed to a retreat in oil and gold prices. Light sweet crude for July delivery fell $1.42 to $70.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 187.13, or 2.1 percent, to 8,612.13. Twenty-nine of the index's 30 components fell, with American Express the only stock to gain. Exxon Mobil and Chevron declined along with falling oil prices. Other losers included Boeing, United Technologies, 3M, General Electric, Merck, Wal-Mart Stores, and Johnson & Johnson. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 22.49, or 2.4 percent, to 923.72. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 42.42, or 2.3 percent, to 1,816.38. Dell, eBay, Intel, and Cisco fell. Intel and Cisco also are Dow stocks. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 181.35 to 5,967.26. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 38.12 to 1,584.88. And the Russell 2000 index fell 15.00 to 511.83.
