U.S. markets fall Monday over worries about Europe

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. markets opened lower Monday morning amid concerns over election results in Europe.

Just after the opening bell on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 41 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 4 points and the NASDAQ was lower by 10 points.

Stocks in the U.S. took the lead from shaky world markets after Socialist Francois Hollande defeated French President Nicolas Sarkozy, leaving investors worried about the future of austerity throughout Europe.

Hollande has advocated a shift away from austerity polices to deal with the continent’s sovereign debt crisis and has been a staunch advocate for more economic stimulus. The major concern keeping investors and leaders on edge is whether such policies will derail previously announced bailout deals, where stronger countries such as Germany provide assistance for weaker economies facing default on their mounting debt.

In Greece, two established parties both lost seats in parliament, leaving no party with a clear majority needed to form a government. The vote could pave the way for a new round of elections and will lengthen the uncertainty facing Greece, and how it plans to comply with terms of the European bailout package.

With little else on the U.S. economic calendar Monday, all eyes were focused on Europe.

In world markets, European stocks slumped in morning trading, and Asian markets were mixed.

In currencies and commodities, the dollar was sharply higher against euro, but was little changed versus the British pound and the Japanese yen.

Oil for June delivery fell below the $100 level on Friday, and on Monday it slipped another 75 cents to $97.74.

Meanwhile, gold futures for June delivery gave back $7 to $1,6380.20 a troy ounce.

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