NEW YORK — Stocks had another wild day Monday, but there was no big event or surprise announcement behind the swings.
All that happened was that the euro, battered to a four-year low before trading began in the U.S., started rising again. And the stock market followed the currency shared by 16 European nations.
Shortly after noon Eastern time, the Dow Jones industrials were down 184 points. It looked like they would add to the pile of triple-digit losses they’ve suffered over the past two weeks as investors worried that Europe’s economic problems would spread to the U.S.
But the euro, which seesawed after earlier falling to $1.2237, finally started its move higher — a bumpy move, but an upward one nonetheless. The Dow also racheted higher, finally ending with an almost six-point advance.
Investors are looking at the euro as an indicator of confidence in the European economies. The euro has been sliding on concerns that debt problems will undermine Europe’s recovery, and in turn that of the U.S. And so, when it started rising Monday, stock traders interpreted its move as a “buy” sign.
But given stocks’ erratic moves over the past few weeks, it’s likely that there will be more days like Monday ahead. Traders still have many unanswered questions about how Europe will pull itself from its financial mess without hurting its recovery.
Because economies around the world are dependent on one another, the broader concern is that Europe’s problems will halt a rebound elsewhere.
The Dow rose 5.67, or 0.1 percent, to 10,625.83. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.26, or 0.1 percent, to 1,136.94, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.38, or 0.3 percent, to 2,354.23.
Hardware and home-improvement giant Lowe’s said shoppers spent more on home-improvement projects in the first quarter and opted to buy new big-ticket items such as riding mowers rather than fix them.
Lowe’s earned $489 million, or 34 cents a share, in the three months ended April 30. In the same period last year, the company earned $476 million, or 32 cents a share. Revenue rose 4.7 percent to $12.39 billion.
Analysts say that a loss in confidence could make it harder for the U.S. economy to bounce back.
“In all likelihood, our recovery is going to continue, but it will be at a slower pace than we imagined a month ago,” said Howard Ward, chief investment officer of the Gamco Growth Fund.
