Markets retreat

New York -- U.S. stock indexes retreated from early gains Monday as General Electric shares fell to their lowest point in 14 years.

An analyst at Deutsche Bank said GE may have to reduce dividends to support its GE Capital business, The Wall Street Journal reported. GE shares fell more than 5 percent.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 142.97 points por 1.94 percent to 7,222.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 17.04 or 2.21 percent to 753.01. The Nasdaq composite index lost 34.66 or 2.4 percent to 1,406.57.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 1/32 to yield 2.79 percent.

The euro fell to $1.2742, compared to Friday's $1.2837. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to 94.81 yen, up from Friday's 93.05 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average lost 40.22 points to 7,376.16, down 0.54
percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 38.33 points, 0.99 percent, to 3,850.73.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.