Business

Dow slips on Greece, domestic concerns

At least the day ended better than it started.

That was about all one could say yesterday about the Dow Jones industrial average, which closed down just 53 points after being off as much as 188 points earlier in the day on a range of economic worries that spanned the Atlantic, ranging from revived worries about Greece to fears that the recovery might be losing ground at home.

The bad news came fast and furious yesterday morning, when the government reported a surprise jump in weekly jobless claims and a rise in durable goods orders that was driven only by an increase in aircraft and defense orders.

While both surprised the market, it was perhaps the jobs data that triggered the most concern. Weekly jobless claims jumped 22,000 to 496,000 last week, bringing the figure close to the psychologically significant 500,000 mark. Economists had been expecting the Labor Department to report a 13,000 drop in weekly jobless claims.

The durable-goods numbers only made matters worse. When defense and aircraft were included, orders rose 3 percent to $175.7 billion in January. However, when those two factors were excluded the figure fell 3 percent and prompted some economists to dial back their first-quarter gross-domestic-product predictions.

The Dow fell 53.13 points to close at 10,321.03, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 1.68 points to 2,234.22. The S&P 500 index fell 2.30 points to 1,102.94.

Also looming over the markets were renewed worries about Greece, which next week is planning to issue a 10-year bond as part of a broader move to shore up its finances. Some investors have doubts the bond offering will be well received, which may exacerbate the country’s financial problems.