US stocks slide as crisis in Europe deepens

US stocks slide as crisis in Europe deepens

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell early today, pushed down as problems in debt-riddled Europe came to a fore.

The decline broke three days of gains, the first such streak in more than a month. Though tech stocks did well — Google rose 3 percent after announcing higher earnings — it wasn’t enough to make investors forget about Europe.

Spain was the epicenter. Protestors took to the streets to voice their disapproval of government spending cuts. The Treasury minister announced that the recession would drag on into next year. And the region of Valencia announced that it needed help from the central government to pay its bills.

Spain also got official approval from the other euro-using countries for a bailout for its struggling banks. But that didn’t calm markets there. Spain’s borrowing costs shot up above 7 percent, meaning Spain could soon find itself unable to afford to borrow money. A major stock market index, the Ibex 35, tumbled 5 percent.