U.S. markets resumed trading Friday morning after the Thanksgiving break and the holiday-shortened session�s gains lost steam on more rocky news out of Europe.
An Italian auction of �8 billion in six-month debt found buyers, but at a yield above 6.50%, nearly double what the company�s treasury paid a month ago. The result was met with a sharp rise in yields on longer Italian maturities, including a jump to 7.32% in the 10-year, a troubling signal given the country�s massive refinancing needs in 2012. Friday�s auction comes after a German bond auction Wednesday had a weak showing.
Stocks were resilient initially, but fell out of favor en route to a weak finish. The specter of a messy default in Greece resurfaced, after a Reuters report said the government is driving a hard bargain directly with creditors as it works out the details of a 50% bond haircut loosely agreed to by a representative of banks that own a large percentage of the country�s bonds.
The Dow Jones industrial average, up triple digits earlier, finished the day in the red, down 26 points to 11,232. The S&P 500 lost 3 points to 1,159, while the Nasdaq fell 19 points to 2,442.
Volume was light with less of the focus on trading and more on shopping as Americans hit the stores on the busiest day of the year. Retailers like Wal-Mart Stores, Best Buy and Target opened their doors at midnight or earlier and offered huge markdowns on items like big-screen TVs, smartphones and toys.
Meanwhile, as Forbes� Eric Savitz points out, shoppers may be getting the cash for their Black Friday frenzy by dumping Internet stocks. Names like Groupon and Netflix were among the laggards as the session wrapped up, down about 1% and nearly 7%, respectively.
AT&T shares were barely moving, but the company was one of the few with some fresh news Friday. The stock inched 0.5% lower after the carrier said it will take a $4 billion charge in its fourth-quarter earnings to represent a potential breakup fee if its deal to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom falls through.
The companies withdrew their application for FCC approval, opting to focus on resolving the Department of Justice�s objections to the deal first. Citi analyst Michael Rollins writes in a note Friday that the move is a strategy shift, rather than a signal that AT&T will abandon the deal, and expects AT&T to work on an alternative structure for the deal.
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