Market participants have been fixated on Europe for weeks as single headlines have caused triple-digit spikes and plunges on the Dow repeatedly. Last week, a late-week rally offset a powerful selloff, knocking the broad S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices into the green for the year, joining the blue chips, which were already in positive territory.
In a sign of the continued jitters, the cost to insure euro zone sovereign debt increased on Monday, with insurance on Belgian and French debt hitting record highs. European blue chips sunk 1.3%, while the euro plummeted 1.4% to $1.362. U.S. Treasury yields, meanwhile, pointed modestly higher. The 10-year note yields 2.075% from 2.057%.