Post date: Sep 25, 2012 11:2:55 PM
Summary of business headlines: Wall Street falls as Spanish protesters clash with police, overlooking U.S. housing, consumer data; Google touches lifetime high; Barnes and Noble turns to video; Amazon and Nasdaq team-up in the cloud.
USA-USCLOSE - Investors lose nerve, giving up early gains despite encouraging signs.
The market rolled over with the S&P 500 having its worst session in three months.
Google touched an all-time high before succumbing to broader market weakness. But there are positives for Google: online sales of the Nexus 7 tablet kick off in Japan, one of Google's most lucrative markets.
Also, "Recipe Rehab" an original professionally produced YouTube show from EverydayHealth will be the first of its kind to make the jump from the web to a U.S. television network this fall.
Sticking with video, Barnes and Noble is launching a video streaming and download service for its Nook tablet in time for the holidays, hoping to take-on the Amazon Kindle Fire.
And speaking of Amazon, the Nasdaq is teaming up with the technology company to launch FinQloud, which will allow Nasdaq's trading clients to store financial data in the Cloud.
Economic news was upbeat. Home prices jumped in July, marking the sixth up month in a row, according to the S&P/Case Shiller index.
David Blitzer is chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's.
DAVID BLITZER, INDEX COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, STANDARD & POOR'S SAID:
"Prices are up. Starts are up. Sales are up. All across the board we are hearing some good things about home building stocks as well. All of that suggests that housing is finally coming back. It will make a late but certainly a very welcome contribution to the economy."
And another welcome sign: consumer confidence strengthened in September, reaching a seven-month high.
In Europe, thousands of Spaniards protest into the night ahead of another round of unpopular austerity measures. Earlier in the day, major stock markets across Europe ended with slight gains.
Conway Gittens, Reuters