First the scoreboard:
Dow: 14,421, -90.2 pts, -0.6 percent
S&P 500: 1,545, -12.9 pts, -0.8 percent
NASDAQ: 3,222, -31.5 pts, -0.9 percent
And now the top stories:
- The situation in Cyprus continues to deteriorate by the minute. A spokesperson for Cyprus Popular Bank announced it was limiting ATM withdrawals to 260 euros. This came after Bloomberg reported that the bank had "enough liquidity to cover the next few hours." Meanwhile, Cypriot legislators continue to scramble to structure a new bank bailout deal.
- U.S. weekly initial jobless claims climbed to just 336,000 from 334,000 last week. Economists were looking for the number to jump to 340,000. This was welcome news as America's labor market slowly improves.
- The closely-watched Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey unexpectedly jumped to 2.0 in March from -12.5 in February. Economists were looking for a more modest improvement to -3.0. The positive numbers suggest business is expanding in the region.
- The Philly Fed report confirmed the U.S. Flash PMI report, which climbed to 54.9 from February's 54.3 reading. The PMI number was driven by improvements in orders and employment.
- Existing home sales climbed 0.8 percent in February to an annual rate of of 4.98 million. "Job growth in the improving economy and pent-up demand are causing both home sales and rental leasing to rise," said Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors.
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