US stocks flat on eurozone worries, Greek election

New York: Stocks were largely unchanged on Monday after market euphoria faded following a eurozone aid package to help Spain and investors focused on the upcoming Greek elections.

Spain will be lent up to 100 billion ($125 billion) to help the country’s battered banks. The size of the package was larger than expected, partially removing a cloud that has been hanging over financial markets.

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Investors have been fearing that a banking crisis in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy could have compounded the currency bloc’s troubles with Greece ahead of that country’s 17 June elections, which many investors fear could lead to Greece leaving the euro zone.

“At best, this is a half-step in the right direction, though I’m happy the step was taken,” said Joe Tatusko, chief investment officer at Westport Resources in Westport, Connecticut. “The alternative to taking it was total chaos, but this may not be enough to really deal with all the problems.”

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After the news was announced over the weekend, futures indicated gains of more than 1 percent on Sunday. However, they subsequently lost ground as concerns over the region persisted. In addition, some weak data from China underscored the hurdles being faced to strong growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 9.04 points, or 0.07 percent, at 12,563.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 0.42 points, or 0.03 percent, at 1,325.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.34 points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,853.08.

In part because of uncertainty stemming from the eurozone, US companies are finding it more difficult to grow their revenue now than at just about any time since the financial crisis.

Wall Street is coming off the previous week’s advance, which was 3.7 percent on the S&P 500, the index’s biggest weekly gain of 2012.

In a sobering sign of slowing overseas economic growth, China’s inflation, industrial output and retail sales all flagged in May. It was the second straight month of sluggish growth, which galvanised policymakers last week into taking their boldest action yet to combat a sharpening slowdown.

Goldman Sachs is close to striking a deal over the sale of its hedge fund administration business with State Street Corp, the Financial Times reported. The move would create the largest administration services provider to hedge funds worldwide.

Reuters