Markets |
Wall Street ends broadly lower on Greek debt concerns
DJ: 17,966.07 -178.00 NAS: 5,122.41
-37.68 S&P: 2,108.58
-15.62
REUTERS/BRENDAN
MCDERMID
U.S. stocks closed lower
on Wednesday, dropping in a broad decline as the outcome of negotiations
between Greece and its international creditors
remained up in the air, prompting investors to drop riskier assets like
equities.
Wall Street has lately taken its cue from the situation in Greece, which needs fresh funds to
avoid defaulting on a $1.8 billion debt repayment to the IMF on June 30.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras recently announced tax and
reforms proposals, which market participants took as a sign of progress. But creditors demanded sweeping
changes to the proposals on Wednesday, adding fresh uncertainty to talks
aimed at unlocking aid to avert a debt default next week.
"The
optimism we had about getting close to a deal has faded. That doesn't mean we
won't get one, but insiders seem less confident than they were a few days ago,"
said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors in New
York.
"If Greece defaults, the economic impact on the
U.S. will be relatively minor, but the headline risk will be significant and could lead to a drop of 5 or
even 10 percent" in the S&P
500.
The U.S. Commerce Department said gross domestic product fell at a 0.2 percent annual rate
in the January-March quarter, instead of the 0.7 percent it estimated last
month.
Investors have been keeping a keen eye on economic data to see
if the U.S. economy has recovered from a slow start at the
beginning of the year. The Federal Reserve has said it remains data-dependent
and expects to raise rates when it sees a sustained rebound in the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial
average .DJI fell 178 points, or 0.98 percent, to
17,966.07, the S&P500 .SPX lost 15.62 points, or 0.74 percent, to
2,108.58 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXICdropped 37.68 points, or 0.73 percent, to 5,122.41.
All of the 10 major S&P
500 sectors were lower, with the
materials index .SPLRCM leading declines with a 1.3 percent drop.
Monsanto (MON.N) fell
5.7 percent to $106.32 as the S&P's biggest percentage decliner after the
seed company said it would still pursue an acquisition of Swiss rival Syngenta
even as it warned of market challenges ahead.
Netflix (NFLX.O)
dipped 0.4 percent to $678.61 after investor Carl Icahn said his firm had sold
the remainder of its stake in the company. The stock moved on heavy volume of
nearly 11 million shares, the most active day for the stock since April, a day
after the video-streaming company's board approved a seven-for-one stock split.
Lennar (LEN.N) rose
4.2 percent to $51.06. The second-largest U.S. homebuilder reported a
better-than-expected 33 percent jump in quarterly profit as it sold more homes
at higher prices.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,154
to 880, for a 2.45-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,987 issues fell and 784
advanced for a 2.53-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 4 new
lows; the Nasdaq recorded 113 new highs and 27 new lows.
About 5.5
billion shares traded on all U.S. platforms, according to BATS exchange
data, below the month-to-date average of 6.1 billion.
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