Roundup: U.S. stocks tumble on inflation data, Greece concerns

U.S. stocks suffered big losses Friday, as stronger American inflation data and Greece debt crisis spread jitters across the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 279.47 points, or 1.54 percent, to 17,826.30. The S&P 500 dropped 23.81 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,081.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index dived 75.98 points, or 1.52 percent, to 4,931.81.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers increased 0.2 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.

The index for all items, less food and energy, rose 0.2 percent in March, the same increase as in January and February. The core inflation in the month ticked up to 1.8 percent year on year.

The CPI pointed to signs of some inflation that should keep the Federal Reserve on course to start raising interest rates this year.

"The core inflation rate is a tenth closer to 2 percent, so inflation must be on the rise. The Fed needs 2 percent inflation to avoid policy failure, and it needs reasonable certainty of 2 percent inflation in the medium term if it is going to tighten. This report is bound to tip them just a bit closer to tightening as long as the job market does not falter," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Concern also mounted over the funding crisis in Greece as focus has been on Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis' visit to meet IMF officials. Analysts doubted that Athens may have some difficulties to make the payments of almost 1 billion euros (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) next month.

Dampening investor sentiment, overseas stock markets decreased broadly Friday. European equities fell sharply amid Greek concerns, with Germany's benchmark DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange plummeting 2.58 percent.

In corporate news, General Electric announced Friday its first quarter operating earnings of 31 cents per share, down 6 percent from the first quarter of 2014. Its shares edged down 0.11 percent to 27.25 dollars apiece.

Analysts said such financial results were mainly hurt by the strong dollar and also weighed by 16 billion U.S. dollars in charges tied to its divestment of GE Capital assets.

Shares of American Express dropped 4.44 percent to 77.32 dollars apiece after posting worse-than-expected financial reports Friday. The world's largest credit card issuer reported quarterly net income of 1.5 billion dollars. Results for the quarter were negatively affected by the significant impact of a stronger dollar on international operations.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, surged 10.24 percent to end at 13.89 Friday.

In other markets, crude prices fell Friday as investors locked in profits following a six-day rally.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery lost 97 cents to settle at 55.74 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery moved down 53 cents to close at 63. 45 dollars a barrel.

The U.S. dollar went up against most major currencies Friday as rising inflation data raised speculation that the Fed would lift interest rates earlier than expected.

In late New York trading, the euro declined to 1.0794 dollars from 1.0799 dollars in the previous session, while the greenback bought 118.77 Japanese yen, lower than 118.85 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose Friday with the most active gold contract for June delivery going up 5.1 dollars, or 0.43 percent, to settle at 1,203. 10 dollars per ounce. Endite