Markets slide ahead of crucial eurozone summit

US markets opened lower today as investors remained cautious on tomorrow's European summit aimed at solving the sovereign debt crisis.

A Eurofin meeting of 27 EU finance ministers scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled, although the key summit for political leaders is set to go ahead as planned. However, markets are volatile with investors fearing leaders may not come up with a credible solution to the crisis. The S&P 500 fell 0.92% or 11 points to trade at 1,242 at the start of the session, while the Dow Jones slipped 1.19% or 142 points to 11,771. Markets were also digesting mixed third quarter earnings reports from the US corporate sector. UPS missed analysts’ expectations, while Xerox and and DuPont surp...