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U.S. stocks trade slightly lower on Greece concerns

Xinhua, April 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks narrowly fluctuated in the morning session on Thursday as concerns about Greece grew.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.13 points, or 0.12 percent, to 18,091.48. The S&P 500 lost 3.15 points, or 0. 15 percent, to 2,103.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 4.90 points, or 0.10 percent, to 5,006.12.

Greece's public finances in 2014 were worse than initial forecasts had predicted, the Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Wednesday amid the possibility of a looming Greek default this spring should Athens fail to reach a deal with lenders on further financing soon.

Meanwhile, the rating agency Standard & Poor's cut Greece's credit rating to "CCC+" from "B-" with a negative outlook on Wednesday.

On the economic front, in the week ending April 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 294,000, above expectations and an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 926,000, missing market consensus, but 2.0 percent above the revised February estimate of 908,000, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

In corporate news, Goldman Sachs reported better-than-expected earnings, helped by a burst of trading in fixed-income and currencies. The investment bank generated net revenues of 10.62 billion U.S. dollars, the highest quarterly result in four years. Its shares, however, fell 0.53 percent around midday.

Shares of Citigroup rose 1.66 percent around midday after posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and weaker-than- expected revenues on Thursday. The company announced first quarter revenues of 19.809 billion dollars and net income of 4.817 billion dollars.

U.S. stocks posted sizable gains on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index above 5,000 points at closing for the first time since March 23, boosted by generally positive earnings reports and the surging oil prices. Endite