Weak bond auction in Spain revives fears about Europe's debt problems, pushing stocks lower; Dow fell 125, its biggest loss since March 6, closing at 13,075

Cindy Allen

NEW YORK , April 4, 2012 (Associated Press) – The Dow Jones industrial average has suffered a triple-digit decline for only the second time this year.

The Dow was down as much as 179 points earlier in the day. It recovered to close down 125 at 13,075. That's the biggest loss for the Dow since March 6.

It was triggered by a weak bond auction in Spain that revived fears over Europe's debt problems. Gold plunged to its lowest level since January.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 14 at 1,399. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 45 to 3,068, its worst decline of the year. It was the Nasdaq's sixth loss in seven days.

Declining stocks beat advancers by about 5-to-1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was about average at 3.8 billion shares.

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