NEW YORK (AFP) ? US stock markets fell sharply Wednesday, more than wiping out the prior day's gains as investors worried about weakening economic data and Greece's escalating debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178.84 points (1.48 percent) to finish at 11,897.27.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 22.45 points (1.74 percent) to 1,265.42, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 47.26 points (1.76 percent) at 2,631.46.
"The US equity markets have given back yesterday's strong advance... courtesy of exacerbated eurozone debt concerns and some disappointing US economic data," Charles Schwab analysts said.
Investors faced a series of worse-than-expected indicators on the health of the US economic recovery. Inflation reached an annualized 3.6 percent in May, the Labor Department said, indicating that rising prices threaten to chew away at consumers' earnings.
Meanwhile a Federal Reserve report showed that manufacturing in the New York region fared worse than expected.
In Europe, protests swelled in Greece over the government's austerity measures. On Tuesday, eurozone finance ministers failed to reach accord at talks on a second bailout package to avert a Greek debt default.
The US stock markets appeared on track for a seventh straight weekly loss. The dollar jumped against the euro amid eurozone risk concerns and crude oil prices plunged 4.6 percent in New York.
Energy giant ExxonMobil, the Dow's biggest component, dived 2.0 percent to $78.75 and Chevron was down 2.2 percent at $98.40.
The banking sector was under pressure after Moody's warned it may downgrade the credit ratings of three major French banks -- Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale -- because of their exposure to Greek debt.
Bank of America plunged 2.8 percent, JPMorgan Chase shed 2.2 percent, Citigroup lost 2.0 percent and Wells Fargo dropped 1.7 percent.
One bright spot was the initial public offering of Internet radio company Pandora, whose share price surged more than 50 percent on the first day of trading.
Pandora, which is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "P," was priced at $16 and closed 9.0 percent higher at $17.44.
Bond prices leapt as investors sought safer assets.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell to 2.97 percent from 3.10 percent on Tuesday, while that on the 30-year bond dropped to 4.20 percent from 4.30 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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