Spain, Greece, pressure stocks

U.S. stocks skidded early on Wall Street Monday as financial troubles in Europe undercut investor confidence. Stock indexes fell in Asia and Europe as benchmark 10-year Spanish bonds topped 7.5 percent Monday after the country's parliament passed a massive spending cut bill on Friday that included raising the sales tax to 21 percent. The news could mean that Spain will need more international aid above and beyond the $122 billion international bailout set up for Spanish banks. The so-called troika -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- is sending an auditing team to Athens to ensure Greece is in compliance with terms of its aid package. The ECB last week said it would not lend money to Greek banks until the audit was complete. In mid-morning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 127.41 points or 0.99 percent to 12,695.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 18.92 points or 1.39 percent to 1,343.74. Tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gave up 52.53 points or 1.80 percent to 2,872.77. The benchmark 10-year treasury note yielded 1.437 percent. The euro fell to $1.2117 from Friday's $1.2158. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 78.42 yen from 78.48 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.86 percent, 161.55, to 8,508.32.