U.S. stocks declined, halting a five- day advance in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as the European Central Bank’s balance sheet increased to a record after a surge of bank lending to stem the region’s debt crisis.
All 10 groups in the S&P 500 fell as measures of commodity, financial and industrial shares slid at least 1.4 percent. Alcoa (AA) Inc. andCaterpillar Inc. (CAT) dropped more than 1.9 percent. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) sank 2.9 percent, extending yesterday’s slump.
The S&P 500 lost 1.1 percent to 1,252.03 at 11:33 a.m. New York time, after rallying 5 percent over the previous five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 120.41 points, or 1 percent, to 12,170.94. About 1.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 35 percent below the same time a week ago.
