Spain’s Cries Spook Wall Street — Monday’s IP Market Recap

Last week’s four-day gain streak came to a screeching halt Monday as bullish investors fled to the sideline after digesting news about a $125 billion bailout request for Spanish banks.

Investor concerns about whether the bailout can stem the tide of bad news in Europe led the markets down the remainder of the day, with the Nasdaq lower by 1.7% at 2,809, the S&P 500 sagging 1.26% to finish at 1,309 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.14% to 12,411.

ETF Alternatives for Last Week’s Hot Stocks

Over the weekend, members of the eurozone signaled that they might help to recapitalize Spain’s banking system after the country asked for �100 billion ($125 billion) from the group of nations. Early enthusiasm gave way to caution, and investors also remain concerned with Sunday’s elections in Greec.

The news overwhelmed better-than-expected Chinese economic readings over the weekend, as China reported the lowest inflation reading since August 2010, raising hopes that policymakers can provide further stimulus in the coming months without prices getting out of control.

Dow stocks were hit hard all day, with 16 components suffering slides of 1% or more. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) continued to slide, falling more than 3%. However, the Dow’s biggest loser was Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), which posted a 3.7% drop — though that was better than the banking Big Four’s worst loss, a 4.6% plunge suffered by Citigroup (NYSE:C). On the industrial side, Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and Alcoa (NYSE:AA) suffered respective drops of 2.7% and 2.4%.

Only four of the Dow 30 posted gains on the day, including AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ), which each hit 52-week intraday highs. AT&T inched ahead by about a tenth of a percent and touched $35 during the day, while Verizon climbed about 0.3% and hit $42.95 in Monday trading.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ:GMCR) was one of the day’s biggest losers, falling about 8% on the same day grocer Kroger (NYSE:KR) announced it will introduce store-branded K-Cups compatible with GMCR’s Keurig coffee maker, but also said it might offer single-serve options compatible with other brewers.

Three Up

• Arena Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:ARNA): Up 6.8% (45 cents) to $7.07.
• Skechers (NYSE:SKX): Up 4% (59 cents) to $19.88.
• Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO): Down 2.7% (58 cents) to $21.85.

Three Down

• Alpha Natural (NYSE:ANR): Down 9.2% (86 cents) to $8.46.
• Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN): Down 8.6% ($3.58) to $38.19.
• Nokia (NYSE:NOK): Down 8.4% (25 cents) to $2.77.

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he was long VZ.