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U.S. stocks little changed midday ahead of Greece news

Xinhua, February 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks pared early losses to trade nearly flat around midday Friday, as uncertainty over ongoing negotiations for a debt deal in Greece put Wall Street on edge.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 7.89 points, or 0.04 percent, to 17,993.66. The S&P 500 lost 1.40 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,096.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 1.74 points, or 0.04 percent, to 4,926.44.

The Eurogroup of regional finance ministers is expected to make an announcement from a Friday meeting on Greece's loan extension proposal.

Greek cabinet ministers appeared optimistic Friday that a bridge agreement between Greece and its European creditors could be clinched during Friday's new extraordinary euro group meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

"We are optimistic that there will be an agreement on Friday, but we cannot be sure," said government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis.

Germany rejected a request from Greece Thursday to extend its loan agreement with eurozone creditors, saying the Greek proposal did not meet previously agreed criteria decided by the Eurogroup Monday.

On the economic front, the seasonally adjusted Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 53.9 in January to 54.3 in February, beating market consensus of 53.8, said financial data firm Markit Friday. The latest figure was well above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction, indicating a sustained improvement in U.S. manufacturing business conditions.

In corporate news, Barclays downgraded Wal-Mart to "equal weight" from "overweight", saying the retailer is unlikely to see near-term benefits from its just-announced increase in wages.

Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon announced Thursday to raise the minimum wage for all of its U.S. workers to at least 9 dollars an hour in April and at least 10 dollars an hour by February of next year. The company's shares edged up 0.2 percent around midday Friday after a 3.2-percent decline on weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue a day earlier. Endite