Wall Street loses ground as price of oil surges

Dow Jones: 12,319.73 (–30.88) SP 500: 1,325.83 (–2.43) Nasdaq: 2,781.07 (+4.28)US STOCKS fell yesterday, trimming the biggest first-quarter rally for the Standard and Poor's 500 Index in 13 years, amid a surge in oil prices and concern that Europe's debt crisis is worsening.

Berkshire Hathaway lost 2.1 per cent as David Sokol, once a candidate to succeed Warren Buffett as the head of the investment firm, resigned.

CarMax slumped 7.2 per cent after the largest US seller of used cars said margins dropped.

Home Depot, Intel and American Express fell more than 1.3 per cent to lead losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The SP 500 fell 0.2 per cent to 1,325.83 in New York.

Stocks were resilient through the first quarter, hanging tough despite Japan’s earthquake and nuclear crisis and a series of uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East.

The benchmark SP 500 hovered near 1,330, a level the index has been unable to break despite several attempts in the past month.

A strong payrolls number may tip it over and technical momentum could kick in, lifting stocks further.

The Dow average fell 30.88 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 12,319.73 yesterday.

“With some of the austerity measures taken by these troubled European countries, they end up in a kind of negative feedback loop,” said Malcolm Polley, who oversees $1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

“With Ireland giving their banks more aid, there seems to be deeper problems than what was initially thought,” he said.

Equities slumped after Irish regulators instructed four banks to raise €24 billion in additional capital following a stress test on the nation’s lenders.

Portugal reported a budget deficit of 8.6 per cent of gross domestic product last year, higher than a government target of about 7 per cent.

Jobless claims in the US topped economists’ estimates a day before the Labor Department’s monthly employment report.

Retailers ranked among the worst performers, dragged lower by Carmax, which lost 7.2 per cent to $32.10 after posting fourth-quarter earnings. – (Bloomberg/ Reuters)