European and Asian markets were unable to retain their foothold on gains Friday and all but the Shanghai Composite closed down thanks to the growing concerns that surround the European economy and Hungary’s debt. But there was good news—the Euro was up and BP announced that it would be able to honor all financial commitments that resulted from the Gulf oil spill. But this was not enough good news to prevent the Dow Jones Industrial Average from sliding down almost 200 points before 10AM.
The morning drop was likely caused by the news that private sector employment growth had not matched analyst’s expectations and the Census Bureau’s short-term hiring of 411,000 workers was responsible for most of the reported job growth in May.
Concerns over lost jobs as a result of the 6-month ban on the deepwater drilling of gas and oil exploratory wells also seemed to be weighing on investor’s minds as the Dow continued its losing streak to close at 9,931.22 a loss of 324.06 points which is the lowest it has been since February of 2010. The S&P 500 closed at 1,064.88 losing 37.95 points and the Nasdaq lost 83.86 points to close at 2,219.17.
