NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. stocks posted another day of losses on Friday, as worries of a global slowdown and Europe’s debt crisis sparked a second sell-off in both U.S. and global markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 66 points, or 0.6%; the S&P 500 was down 3 points, or 0.2%; and the Nasdaq Composite was up 5 points, or 0.2%.
The Dow was dragged lower by shares of Hewlett-Packard, which plunged 22%..
Hewlett-Packard disappointed investors on Thursday after the company cut its full-year forecast, announced it was ending its tablet business and also said was looking to exit the consumer PC business as well.
World markets dropped for a second straight session, as global economic fears continued to build.
“Global markets remain rattled by a crisis that is fast morphing into a global banking and economic crisis on one side, and a very piecemeal policy approach to contain risks on the other,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.
Britain’s FTSE 100 index was down 1.7%, the DAX in Germany dropped 3.1% and France’s CAC 40 fell 2%.
Friday’s global sell off comes a day after Morgan Stanley cut global growth forecasts, saying the United States and Europe are “dangerously close to a recession.”
Adding to these concerns, Deutsche Bank downgraded its economic forecast for China, saying that a slowdown or recession in the U.S. or European economies would be “the single most important shock to the Chinese economy,” and could slow the nation’s GDP growth to 7%.
In 2010, China’s economy grew at a robust rate above 10%, and is forecast to grow more than 9% in 2011.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase trimmed its fourth-quarter U.S. GDP annual growth estimate to 1%, down from its previous projection of 2.5%. The bank also lowered its outlook for the first quarter of 2012 to a 0.5% annual growth rate from 1.5%, warning that the risks of a recession are “are clearly elevated.”
As they fled stocks, investors continued to seek shelter in traditional safe havens, including gold. The price of gold for December delivery jumped as much as $59.40 on Friday, to bolt to a fresh intraday record of $1,881.40 an ounce before pulling back to about $1,858.40.
On Thursday, the Dow fell more than 400 points, as renewed concerns about the U.S. and global economies send investors fleeing from equities.
Companies: Bank of America’s stock dipped 2%, after the company announced it is cutting 3,500 jobs, in addition to the 2,500 jobs the bank eliminated earlier this year.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar firmed against the euro and British pound, and was flat versus the Japanese yen.
Oil for September delivery slipped 43 cents to $81.93 a barrel, having fallen as low as $79.17 earlier in the session.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell slightly, pushing the yield up to 2.09% from 2.08% late Thursday.
World markets: It was another tough day for Asian markets. Japan’s Nikkei lost 2.5%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong tumbled 3.1% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1%.
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