Dow -0.98%  17,966.07  /  -178.00 
Nasdaq -0.73%  5,122.41  /  -37.69 
S& P -0.74%  2,108.58  /  -15.62

 

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& P 500 .SPX lost 15.62 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,108.58 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 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.

 

Dow +0.58%  18,119.78  /  +103.83 
Nasdaq +0.72%  5,153.97  /  +36.97 
S& P +0.61%  2,122.85  /  +12.86

U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq closing at a record as hopes grew that a deal would be reached to prevent Greece from defaulting on loans.

Equities have been largely driven by the situation in Greece of late, with investors concerned that if the country defaults on its loans, it may have to leave the euro or the European Union, potentially shaking the region' s economic foundations.

Athens presented new reform proposals which were cautiously welcomed by euro zone finance on Monday, though the Eurogroup said the proposals required detailed study and that it would take several days to determine whether they can lead to an agreement. Greece needs fresh funds to avoid defaulting on a $1.8 billion debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund on June 30.

" This takes one anxiety off the table, even if it doesn' t yet resolve the primary issues that made investors anxious in the first place," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sentiment was also lifted by merger and acquisition activity. The S& P energy index .SPNY rose 1 percent as the top-performing sector of the day after Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE.N) confirmed it had made a $48 billion unsolicited bid for Williams Companies Inc (WMB.N), hours after Williams rejected the offer as significantly too low.

Shares of Williams surged 26 percent to $60.90 and were the biggest percentage gainer on the S& P 500 by far.

Separately, Cigna Corp (CI.N) rose 4.8 percent to $162.65 after the health insurer rebuffed Anthem' s (ANTM.N) $47 billion merger proposal on Sunday. Anthem rose 3.6 percent to $171.04.

Homebuilders rose as existing home sales grew more than expected in May, surging to their highest in five- and-a-half years. The PHLX Housing index .HGX rose 0.9 percent while Lennar Corp (LEN.N) added 1.7 percent to $49.49.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO.N) slumped 12.5 percent to $6.11 on heavy volume after Sequential Brands (SQBG.O) agreed to buy the company in a deal that values it at about $353 million, or $6.15 a share. Martha Stewart shares had risen about 37 percent over two days after news of the deal emerged.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 104.53 points, or 0.58 percent, to 18,120.48, the S& P 500 .SPX gained 13 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,122.99 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 36.97 points, or 0.72 percent, to 5,153.97.

With the day' s gains, the Nasdaq ended at a record while the S& P closed 0.3 percent away from its own record close. Currently, the S& P trades at 17.3 times earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data, above its long-term average.

" Valuations are somewhat high, but there aren' t many alternatives that look attractive," said McCain. " Stocks will probably get a lot higher before there' s any serious risk of a pullback on valuation."

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,830 to 1,238, for a 1.48-to-1 ratio on the upside on the Nasdaq, 1,819 issues rose and 988 fell for a 1.84-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The benchmark S& P 500 index was posting 51 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows the Nasdaq Composite was recording 207 new highs and 26 new lows.

About 5.31 billion shares traded on all U.S. platforms, according to BATS exchange data, compared with the month-to-date average of 6.17 billion.

 

 

 

Dow -0.55% 18,015.95 / -99.89
Nasdaq -0.31% 5,117.00 / -15.95
S& P -0.53% 2,109.99 / -11.25

 

U.S. stocks fell on Friday ahead of a summit next week that could decide whether Greece will need to print its own currency and ditch the euro.

Euro zone leaders are scheduled to meet on Monday night in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal with Athens. As bank withdrawals across Greece ballooned to about 4.2 billion euros this week, the European Central Bank boosted its emergency funding for Greek banks.

Friday' s decline in stocks " has to do with the meeting on Monday," said King Lip, chief investment officer at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco. " It' s sort of the last lifeline they are going to throw out to Greece and people are selling ahead of that because of the uncertainty."

Lip said, however, that any sharp selling because of developments on Monday could be yet another buying opportunity for investors in U.S. stocks.

" If Greece leaves the union, that removes an uncertainty and is actually good for the markets over the long run if there is a resolution, that is also good," said Lip. " In some way, whatever happens on Monday is a win-win and (a market selloff) is a buyable dip."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 101.56 points, or 0.56 percent, to 18,014.28, the S& P 500 .SPX lost 11.48 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,109.76 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 15.95 points, or 0.31 percent, to 5,117.00.

For the week, the Dow gained 0.6 percent, the S& P added 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq, which had closed at a record high on Thursday, rose 1.3 percent.

Utilities led the S& P 500 decline in percentage terms, down 1 percent as a group .SPLRCU after gaining 2.7 percent over the previous three sessions.

A market debut fizzled, with shares of 8point3 Energy Partners (CAFD.O) down 2.4 percent at $20.49. It offered 20 million shares that priced at $21, the top-end of the filed range.

ConAgra Foods' (CAG.N) shares jumped 10.9 percent to $43.37 after activist hedge fund Jana Partners took a stake in the company. ConAgra' s peer Pinnacle Foods (PF.N) rallied 8.6 percent to $46.81 after earlier hitting a record high of $47.21.

Macerich (MAC.N) slumped 6.8 percent to $76.87. Sources told Reuters Simon Property Group (SPG.N) was selling its ownership stake in the No. 3 U.S. mall operator. Simon fell 1.3 percent to $179.48.

KB Home (KBH.N) rose 9.4 percent to $16.37 after the homebuilder' s quarterly results beat estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,788 to 1,257, for a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the downside on the Nasdaq, 1,557 issues fell and 1,254 advanced for a 1.24-to-1 ratio favoring decliners. The S& P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows the Nasdaq recorded 161 new highs and 40 new lows.

About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 6.03 billion daily average so far this month, according to BATS Global Markets.