No Fiscal Cliff Deal, Stocks Sink
December 21, 2012 at 09:39 AM EST
With no fiscal deal in sight, skittish investors sent the markets tumbling to a sharply lower close with the Dow plummeting 120 points to 13,190. Nasdaq dropped 29 points to 3021.On the upsideSupervalu (NYSE: SVU) reached an agreement to settle a non-compete suit filed against former executive Leon Bergmann.Shares of Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV) advanced again after the release of a report earlier this week indicated mnthat home builder sentiment climbed.Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK) will pay approximately $1.5 billion to acquire Marazzi Group.On the downsideShares of direct sales company Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE: NUS) plunged in the wake of pyramid scheme accusations leveled at Herbalife (NYSE: HLF), which also uses a direct sales model. Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI) ended exclusive negotiations to be bought by SPX (NYSE: SPW).Investors locked in profits on Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), whose stock price soared recently on China’s support for consolidating the solar industry.In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index dropped 13 points to 1430.
