US close: Stocks fall as Greek talks drag on

Date: Monday 06 Feb 2012

Dow Jones: -17 at 12,845
Nasdaq: -4 at 2,902
S&P 500: -1 at 1,344

US stocks slipped on Monday as ongoing talks in Greece tested investor patience, with the country's Prime Minister, Lucas Papdemos, struggling to build a political consensus on austerity measures in order to secure the next bailout.

After a meeting last night between the three parties of Greece’s coalition government, Papademos announced that they had agreed on “basic issues”. However, it seems that the two smaller party heads remain opposed to excessive austerity measures.

Negotiations continue to crawl forward with Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos saying: “The gap between the successful completion of procedures and a deadlock, which could be accidental or due to a misunderstanding, is very small. We are on the razor’s edge,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President both expressed their impatience at a news conference in Paris: "I honestly can't understand how additional days will help," Merkel said. "Time is of the essence. A lot is at stake for the entire Eurozone."

Meanwhile, Sarkozy added: “An agreement has never been so close, neither for private nor public creditors...We have to conclude it.”

With the dollar index - which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies - hitting a high of 79.52, from yesterday's 78.94, gold prices took a tumble, pulling precious metals miners AuRico Gold, Eldorado Gold and Yamana Gold into the red.

Financial stocks were also under pressure as the markets focused their attention on Greece, with Genworth Financial and Capital One Financial Corp among the fallers.

Over big movers include biotech firm Dendreon which surged nearly 17% after rival Amgen after the Food and Drug Administration raised some questions with rival Amgen's Xgeva drug for prostate cancer. Meanwhile, health insurer Humana fell over 5% after fourth quarter sales fell short of expectations.

MACROECONOMY

Economists at UBS have raised their first quarter 2012 GDP estimate for the United States to 2.3% from 1.5% before.

BC

S&P 500 - Risers
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) $44.35 +9.48%
Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $2.46 +6.03%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $24.67 +3.39%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $33.54 +3.36%
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $12.31 +3.36%
Sunoco Inc. (SUN) $39.79 +3.35%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $23.54 +3.34%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $70.74 +3.03%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $46.49 +2.96%
Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $19.20 +2.78%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Medco Health Solutions Inc. (MHS) $58.47 -8.08%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $85.25 -5.40%
Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) $49.67 -4.64%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $22.32 -3.67%
Sysco Corp. (SYY) $29.79 -3.59%
Monsanto Co. (MON) $79.65 -3.04%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $9.75 -2.89%
Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) $47.90 -2.84%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $7.72 -2.83%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $20.70 -2.82%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $7.97 +1.66%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $63.51 +1.18%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $40.46 +1.15%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $106.67 +1.11%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $85.75 +0.98%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $38.14 +0.79%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.19 +0.50%
General Electric Co. (GE) $19.05 +0.16%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $38.40 +0.08%
AT&T Inc. (T) $29.97 +0.07%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $59.33 -1.31%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $20.95 -1.18%
Boeing Co. (BA) $75.46 -1.15%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $28.76 -1.07%
American Express Co. (AXP) $51.81 -0.84%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $65.18 -0.70%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $80.57 -0.59%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $99.49 -0.52%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $38.69 -0.49%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $51.78 -0.44%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $38.24 +3.98%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $46.49 +2.96%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $56.03 +2.43%
Google Inc. (GOOG) $609.09 +2.14%
News Corp. Class A (NWSA) $19.56 +1.45%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $16.78 +1.45%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $28.24 +1.33%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $69.44 +0.97%
Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) $8.39 +0.96%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $463.97 +0.93%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) $49.67 -4.64%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $43.47 -2.45%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $183.14 -2.42%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $131.37 -2.35%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $50.83 -2.21%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $43.23 -2.17%
FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) $26.05 -1.92%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $33.57 -1.90%
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $536.73 -1.87%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $112.83 -1.87%

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