英语文摘：U.S. stocks end mixed on contagious fears

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday after Ireland formally requested a bailout as contagious fears were still lingering in the market.

The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled about 150 points in morning trading after an EU source said a total of 80 billion to 90 billion euros might not be enough to backstop Irish banks or stop similar runs on assets in heavily indebted countries.

Ireland, whose debt problems weighed on the market in past weeks, asked European Unions for loans during weekend, once giving a boost to the euro. However, enthusiasm about the deal soon melted away as investors once again focused on other stressed euro- zone countries, such as Spain and Portugal.

Meanwhile, financial stocks were under great pressure after FBI raided some investment firms, seeking documents related to hedge fund inside trading.

Goldman Sachs was one of the S&P 500's biggest losers, with shares tumbling 3.37 percent on a report over the weekend that investigators are looking at possible insider trading allegations tied to the firm's dealings in transactions including a health- care merger.

The Nasdaq composite managed to finish in positive area. Computer giant Hewlett-Packard released its results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended October after the market closed, which topped Wall Street estimates.

HP said its net income totaled 2.54 billion dollars, a 5 percent year-on-year increase, in the latest quarter, benefitting from stronger corporate spending. HP's share closed up 1.79 percent and climbed higher in after hour trading.

Investors were awaiting a heavy batch of economic data due out on Tuesday and Wednesday in a holiday-shortened week, especially the revisions to earlier estimates of the third-quarter gross domestic product. The market was expecting the latest reading to be a little bit higher than the previous 2.0 percent.

As of Monday's close, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 24.97 points, or 0.22 percent, to 11,178.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.89 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,197.84. The Nasdaq was up 13.9 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,532.02.