Overnight Markets: Wall Street down as Cyprus worry intensifies

US stocks ended lower on Thursday amid increasing concern about Europe’s debt crisis and as Oracle's revenue fell far short of expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 90 points, or 0.62%, to end at 14,421. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 13 points, or 0.83%, to finish at 1,546. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 32 points, or 0.97%, to close at 3,223.

Equities declined yesterday after a purchasing managers’ index for Germany’s manufacturing industry unexpectedly fell this month while a measure of euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted more than predicted.

Stocks losses accelerated late in the session as investor concern about the Cypriot finances increased.  Standard & Poor's cut Cyprus' sovereign credit rating deeper into junk status just before the US market’s close.

Cyprus has until Monday to raise the billions of euros to avail an international bailout - or face the collapse of its financial system and likely exit from the euro bloc.

Eurozone concerns overshadowed an economic data showing sales of previously owned US homes rose in February to the highest level in more than three years.

Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) shares plunged 9.7% and were the biggest drag on Nasdaq, a day after its revenue disappointment.

After the bell, shares of Nike (NKE.N) rose 8.3% after it posted a profit that beat analyst expectations.

Dow component Cisco (CSCO.O) fell 3.8% after brokerage FBR downgraded its rating on the network equipment maker's stock and cut its price target. Among other tech shares, International Business Machines (IBM.N) lost 1.3%.

Elsewhere, apparel retailers declined after they forecast first-quarter results significantly below analysts' estimates. Guess (GES.N) fell 7.2%, Tilly's (TLYS.N) was down 8.4%, and Pacific Sunwear of California (PSUN.O) lost 9.8%.

On the positive side, Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) added 3.5% as Oppenheimer & Co. upgraded the shares.

In Asia, shares declined on Friday in late morning trade as looming financial meltdown in Cyprus underscored concern that Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.