March 22, 2012- Markets Lose Steam on Euro Weakness

The major U.S. indexes traded lower on Thursday, with some lackluster manufacturing readings from China and the eurozone re-igniting economic worries and providing scope for a sell-off. A domestic report released earlier in the day showed that jobless claims unexpectedly fell. That said, the decline has served to alleviate only some of the weakness. European markets are seeing an across the board sell-off U.S. stocks moved about in a lackluster fashion on Wednesday amid the release of a report showing small decline in existing home sales. The choppy trading reflected the uneasiness of traders over the overbought levels rather than disappointment over the housing data, which proved mixed. The major U.S. averages opened amid apprehension and showed modest moves in early trading. The technology-weighted Nasdaq Composite Index received some support from Oracle’s (ORCL) better than expected results, remaining mostly above the unchanged line but closing well off the highs of the session. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 1.17 points or 0.04 percent at 3,075.32.