U.S. stocks decline after the open; Dow Jones down 0.76%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were down after the open on Monday, as shares in the financial sector were hit by ongoing fears over the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis and as energy-related stocks declined. 

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.76%; the S&P 500 index slumped 0.66%, while the Nasdaq Composite index was down 0.34%.

In the financial sector, shares performed poorly as worries about Europe's debt crisis intensified, following reports that Portugal was under pressure to accept a bailout of as much as EUR100 billion.  

Shares in the second largest U.S. lender JP Morgan-Chase tumbled 1.26%, rival Citigroup saw shares drop 1.32%, while U.S. listed shares of Spain’s biggest bank Banco Santander plunged 2.92%.

Meanwhile, shares in the energy sector were broadly lower after a leak forced the closing of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which carries approximately 15% of U.S. crude oil supplies.

Shares in oil giant BP slid 1.84% after the suspension of the pipeline forced the company to halt 95% of production from its biggest North American oil field in North Slope, Alaska. Meanwhile, shares in rival Exxon Mobil dropped 1.29%.  

In deal news, shares in utility provider Duke Energy declined 1.41% after it said it agreed to acquire rival Progress Energy in a deal worth approximately USD13.7 billion. The acquisition makes Duke Energy the largest U.S. utility firm. Shares in Progress fell 1.39% following the news.

Also Monday, shares in the world’s third largest chemicals company DuPont plunged 4.90% after it agreed to acquire Danish-based food ingredients giant Danisco for approximately USD6.3 billion.    

Elsewhere, shares in pharmaceutical giant Genzyme jumped 1.75% after the firm said it resumed takeover talks with Europe’s largest pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis.     

Meanwhile, shares in the largest U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa climbed 0.97% as investors positioned themselves in the stock ahead the company’s fourth quarter earnings report due out later in the day.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets posted sharp declines. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.77%, France’s CAC 40 plunged 1.46%, Germany's DAX dropped 1.04%, while Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.37%.

Earlier in the day, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the bimonthly Global Economy Meeting said the recovery of the global economy was “confirmed.”