Stocks fell, as investors kept an eye on unrest in Greece and Spain. Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds shot up to 6.06% after the leader of Catalonia called for early elections, signaling a lack of confidence in Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Violent demonstrations were reported in Madrid, where Spanish Prime Minister is under pressure to request euro-zone officials for rescue funds. Also, in Greece, police on Wednesday reportedly used tear gas against firebomb throwing protesters during a strike in Athens over wage cuts deemed necessary for the nation to remain in the euro. U.S. new-home purchases in August remained near a two-year high as sales fell 0.3% to a 373,000 annual pace, below expectations of 380,000. Also, mortgage applications increased 2.8% last week compared to the previous one. Research in Motion was among few gainers jumping 6.1% after the firm reported its BlackBerry services added close to 2 million subscribers. Jabil Circuit slid 9.87% on weaker-than-expected quarterly results. Also, SanDisk gave up 2.8% after the co. was downgraded to market perform from market outperform at JMP Securities on “weakness in computing trends and supply constraints”. Implied volatility inched higher on moderate trading volumes.
