NEW YORK, March 18 (UPI) — U.S. stocks were lower Monday on news that a bailout for Cyprus included a tax on bank deposits.
“This morning the news is all about Cyprus, the home to ‘dirty money’ with an estimated $18 billion of Russian and other mafia money on deposit,” Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Jeffrey James & Associates said in a note to clients, MarketWatch reported.
The New York Times reported the plan is still up in the air. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has delayed a parliamentary vote on the bailout for a second time, because he is having difficulty finding support for the proposal.
In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 10.05 points, or 0.07 percent, to 14,504.06.
The Nasdaq dipped 3.62 points, or 0.11 percent, to 3,245.45.
The Standard and Poor’s 500 dropped 4.14 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,556.56.
Ten-year U.S. treasury bonds rose 11/32 to yield 2.023 percent.
Against the dollar, the euro was at $1.297 from Friday’s $1.2907. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at 95.20 yen from 94.36 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 340.32 points, 2.71 percent, to 12,220.63.
In London, the FTSE 100 index shed 0.49 percent, 31.73 points, to 6,457.92.
Copyright 2013 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).
