NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling in early trading as investors remain skittish in advance of the president’s State of the Union address and the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s latest interest-rate setting meeting.
The latest batch of earnings are again being overshadowed by concerns over potential new financial regulations, a trend that has occurred in recent days.
The market has been spooked by President Barack Obama’s push to restrict trading by major financial institutions and concerns over Senate confirmation of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term. Stocks have declined in five of the last seven sessions.
The Dow Jones industrial average is down 35.21, or 0.4 percent, at 10,159.08. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down 2.60, or 0.2 percent, at 1,089.57, while the Nasdaq composite index is down 1.49, or 0.1 percent, at 2,202.24.
