U.S. stocks fell for a second day after a gauge of consumer confidence slumped to the lowest level in seven months and Apple Inc. led declines in technology shares. Cisco Systems Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and General Electric Co. declined at least 1.4 percent to lead losses in 29 of 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Apple slumped 2.7 percent as Research In Motion Ltd. introduced a computer tablet to rival its iPad. Monsanto Co. fell 6.7 percent, bringing its two-day drop to more than 10 percent, on concern that sales of weed-killers will slump. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.7 percent to 1,134.77 at 10:21 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.92 points, or 0.5 percent, to 10,763.12. “It’s a very negative sentiment out there right now,” said Michael Nasto, senior trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc., which manages about $2.5 billion in San Antonio. “The consumer confidence number took the market down. Investors need to be confident in the government to create jobs, put people back to work. We’re not seeing a lot of positive news out there.” Benchmark indexes extended losses after the Conference Board’s confidence index declined to 48.5, lower than forecast, from 53.2 the prior month. The median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a decline to 52.1. U.S. stocks also followed European equities lower on concern that that region’s debt crisis is worsening. The cost of insuring against default on Ireland’s government debt surged to a record as Standard & Poor’s said the price of bailing out nationalized lender Anglo Irish Bank Corp. could exceed $47 billion. Debt Concern “Sovereign debt concerns continue to hurt investor sentiment,” said Daniel Redfern, a fund manager at Vontobel Asset Management Ltd. in Zurich. “Especially after Standard & Poor’s said the cost of the Anglo Irish Bank recapitalization could exceed its 35 billion-euro earlier estimate.” The S&P 500 has surged 8.9 percent in September through yesterday, heading for the biggest monthly gain since April 2009, as signs of improving demand for capital goods, technology products and consumer items eased concern the economic rebound is slowing. September is historically the worst month for the gauge, with losses averaging 1.2 percent since 1928. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 3.2 percent from July 2009, the smallest year-over-year gain since March, the group said today in New York. The gauge is a three- month average, which means the July data are still being influenced by transactions in May and June that may have benefitted from the government homebuyer incentive. Monsanto Co. fell 6.6 percent to $49.55. Australia’s Nufarm Ltd. reported 2010 North American sales of glyphosate, a herbicide also sold by Monsanto, fell 44 percent year over year. Walgreen Co. surged 8.7 percent to $33. The company’s fourth-quarter earnings were 53 cents excluding items such as costs related to the Duane Reade acquisition, beating the 44- cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporter on this story: Inyoung Hwang in New York at ihwang7@bloomberg.net; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net

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