Stocks Fall Most This Year, Euro Drops; Spain Yields Gain

Stocks tumbled the most this year and the euro slid while Spanish bond yields surged amid renewed concern about Europe’s debt crisis. U.S. Treasuries rose, while oil fell after the longest stretch of weekly gains since 2004.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 1.2 percent to 1,495.71 at 4 p.m. in New York, falling from a five-year high, and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed 1.5 percent lower. The euro declined 0.9 percent to $1.3516, retreating from the strongest level since November 2011. Spanish 10-year yields jumped 23 basis points to 5.44 percent and Italy’s rates added 14 points. Ten-year U.S. yields lost six basis points to 1.96 percent. Oil sank 1.6 percent to $96.17 a barrel, the most in two months, after capping an eighth straight weekly gain.