Afternoon Markets: GM drags Dow

General Motors led the Dow Jones' 15 point (0.2%) drop minutes after opening today, to 8,459. The b...

General Motors led the Dow Jones' 15 point (0.2%) drop minutes after opening today, to 8,459. The beleaguered car manufacturer admitted this morning it has failed to secure bond holder approval to swap $24bn of its $27bn debts for a 10% equity stake in the company. GM shares fell 13.19% to $1.25 this afternoon, however US consumer stocks and retailers continued to perform strongly on the back of yesterday's positive consumer confidence figures. Supermarket chain Wal-Mart and household goods provider Johnson & Johnson were among the top-performing stocks. Wal-Mart rose 0.49% to $50.25, w...