A weak euro due to concerns over debt negotiations in Greece, as well as profit-taking in the U.S. health care and industrial sectors, dragged stocks down at the close of the first quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1 percent to close at 17,776.12 while the S&P 500 finished the day down 0.9 percent to 2,067.89 and the WWD Global Stock Tracker declined 0.4 percent to 115.66.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average entered March with a roar — starting the month above the 18,000 mark. But the index soon dipped on news that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates. The impact of a weak euro also worried investors, and the Dow closed the month down. Still, the index finished the quarter pretty much where it started: it shed just 0.3 percent from the beginning of January. The WWD stock tracker is up 7.6 percent in the same period.
Today’s declines followed reports that consumer confidence and weekly retail sales were improving. Investors didn’t seem to key into the good news, though. Instead, analysts said there were concerns that sales and earnings in the first quarter would be negatively impacted by a strong dollar as well as other economic indicators such as wages and salaries that are not rising fast enough.
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Meanwhile Etsy Inc. filed an amended registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that it could offer 16.6 million shares priced between $14 and $16 each. The online company is prepping for an initial public offering by shopping around a 289-page prospectus.