U.S. stocks falter on lingering Greek debt concerns

Zimbabwe Star Monday 6th February, 2012

U.S. stock indices lightened up on Monday, interrupting a multi-week uptrend.

Losses however were limited with the bulk of them clawed back in the final hour of trading.

The wrangle over Greece's debt restructuring continued with Greek politicians continuing to be at odds with the IMF and European Union.

The meter is ticking on Greece as a number of deadlines loom in March whereby the country will have to default on its debt if no deal is done.

"We've had an ultra-strong move, and I think it would be prudent to take some hedges to protect yourself," Randy Bateman, chief investment officer of Huntington Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio, who helps oversee $14.5 billion in assets told the Reuters Thomson news agency. "There will be more negativity if the deal doesn't go through, even if the market has been driven more by earnings than Europe lately."

At the close of trading Monday the Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.10 points or 0.13% at 12,845.13.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.67 points or 0.13% 2,901.19.

The Standard Poor's 500 Index, which is up 7% so far this year, was down 0.57 of a point or 0.04% at 1,344.33.

Containing losses Monday was continued euphoria over Friday's jobs report which showed unemployment had declined from 8.5% to 8.3% with 243,000 new jobs added to the U.S. economy in January.

The employment turnaround, a major factor in the economy, has been welcomed by President Barack Obama who will likely shape up with Mitt Romnney, who won the Republican's Nevada primary on Saturday, in the presidential elections in November in which Obama will be seeking a second term.

The U.S. dollar was range-bound, drifting down against the euro to trade at 1.3131 around the New York close Monday.

The Japanese yen was up slightly at 76.58.

The British pound was pretty much unchanged at 1.5827.

The Swiss franc was a tad weaker at 0.9187.

The Australian dollar dipped to 1.0730. The New Zealand dollar held to last week's gains at 0.8339. The Canadian dollar was stronger at 0.9957.