US: Stocks fall again amid doubts over Fed policy

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks fell early Monday on ongoing worries over shifting Federal Reserve policy as investors await key inflation data and corporate earnings later in the week.

Analysts pointed to lingering unease after stocks dropped last week, following signals from the Federal Reserve of an accelerated effort to tighten monetary policy.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note - a proxy for Fed interest rates - moved higher towards two per cent.

This week's economic calendar includes reports on consumer pricing and retail sales, as well as earnings from JPMorgan Chase and other banks.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 per cent at 30,015.16.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.1 per cent to 4,626.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.7 per cent to 14,676.53.

American social game developer Zynga jumped 46.3 per cent after it reached an agreement to be acquired by Take-Two Interactive, an American video game holding company, for US$12.7 billion. Take-Two fell 12.8 per cent.

AFP