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Worries About Greece Lead To Modest Weakness On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

wallstreet4 103112 24Jun15

While selling pressure has remained subdued, stocks have moved modestly lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is pulling back off the record closing high set in the previous session.

Currently, the major averages are posting slim losses on the day. The Dow is down 56.79 points or 0.3 percent at 18,087.28, the Nasdaq is down 7.85 points or 0.2 percent at 5,152.25 and the S&P 500 is down 4.40 points or 0.2 percent at 2,119.80.

The modest weakness that has emerged on Wall Street comes as the latest developments regarding Greece's negotiations with its creditors have offset recent optimism about a potential deal.

Greece put forward new proposals earlier this week that were touted as a sign of progress, but the offer has reportedly been rejected.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras claimed the international creditors are rejecting equivalent measures that were accepted for Portugal and Ireland.

"This odd stance seems to indicate that either there is no interest in an agreement or that special interests are being backed," Tsipras said in a post on Twitter.

The troika of creditors, which includes the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, has reportedly put forward a set of counterproposals.

The continued back-and-forth comes as Greece is faced with a 1.5 billion euro payment to the IMF at the end of month. Greece has indicated that it will not be able to make the payment without further aid.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing a smaller than previously estimated contraction in U.S. economic activity in the first quarter.

The report said gross domestic product dipped by 0.2 percent in the first quarter compared to the previously reported 0.7 percent drop.

The modest decrease, which came on the heels of 2.2 percent growth in the fourth quarter, matched economist estimates.

Sector News

Transportation stocks have shown a notable move to the downside over the course of the trading session, dragging the Dow Jones Transportation Average down by 1.3 percent. Despite the drop, the average remains stuck in a recent trading range.

Within the transportation sector, railroad and trucking stocks are seeing considerable weakness, with the Dow Jones Railroads Index and the Dow Jones Trucking Index falling by 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Chemical stocks have also come under pressure on the day, as reflected by the 1.1 percent loss being posted by the Dow Jones Chemicals Index. Industry giant DuPont (DD) is down by 1.8 percent after hitting a nearly eight-month intraday low.

Telecom and brokerage stocks are also seeing some weakness in mid-day trading, while most of the other major sectors have shown more modest moves to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw continued strength during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both rose by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index surged up by 2.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved slightly higher following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by nearly a basis point at 2.4 percent.

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Business News

A busy week for economics saw the release of first quarter growth figures for the U.S. economy and the interest rate decision in Japan. Read our stories to find out why the GDP data damped market sentiment in the U.S. and what were the signals given out by the Bank of Japan. Other news this week included new home sales data and jobless claims figures from the U.S., and the latest purchasing managers' survey results for the Eurozone.

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