Stocks fell sharply as investors dumped risky assets on fears of more debt trouble in the eurozone. The selling gained momentum after the S&P 500 fell below 1,225, a key technical level that had been the recent moving average. The retreat came despite a series of better-than-expected economic reports. Initial jobless claims came in lower than expected at 388,000, the lowest numbers since April. The number of housing building permits jumped up 10.9% in October from the revised rate of 589,000 in September. Meanwhile, housing starts edged down 0.3% to an annual rate of 628,000 units in October. The Philadelphia Fed's Index still showed growth in the region, but barely, slipping to 3.6 in November from 8.7 the previous month. Tech stocks mostly closed in the negative territory, led by NetApp, which lost 12% after mixed quarterly results and disappointing forecast. Applied Materials declined 7.5% after the softer-than-expected sales and profit forecast. Rambus surged more than 23%, paring more than 60% loss in late trading on Wednesday after losing a price-fixing case against Micron Technology and Hynix Semiconductor. Implied volatility surged above the 30 level on huge trading volumes.NEAREST RESISTANCE LEVELS: 55.8, 56.8, 58.1, 58.3, 59.1, 59.3
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