NEW YORK - US STOCKS tumbled Monday as investors locked in gains from a hefty multiweek rally and braced for new economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 153.33 points (1.79 per cent) to 8,421.32 at the closing bell after the market chalked up gains in eight of the past nine weeks.
CAPE CANAVERAL - SPACE shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts blasted off on Monday on an ambitious 11-day mission to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope, an icon of modern astronomy that has changed scientists' understanding of the universe.
The shuttle lifted off its seaside launch pad at 2:01 pm (2.10 am Singapore time), heading toward an orbit 563 km above the planet and a Wednesday rendezvous with the Hubble telescope.
PARIS - GRIM data revealed the depths of distress in European industry on Monday but economists seized on strengthening signs of upturn in the months ahead.
France and Italy reported a big slump in industrial output in March, but central bankers from the G-10 grouping of big economies meeting in Switzerland said the global economy was near a turning point.
ASIAN states led by China, Japan and South Korea are expected to spend some US$60 billion (S$87.6 billion) to beef up their navies in the next five years, an industry analyst said on Monday.
That is bigger than what Nato countries - excluding the United States - are forecast to spend for new naval construction in the same period, said Bob Nugent, vice-president of US-based naval consultancy AMI International.
