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U.S. stocks open lower as Greece concerns grow

Xinhua, May 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Tuesday as the Greek debt crisis weighed on investor confidence.

Market sentiment was affected by the little progress on talks between debt-strapped Greece and its creditors. Euro zone finance ministers said more work is needed to close a cash-for-reform deal between both sides, even though Greece said on Monday it repaid about 750 million Euros (847.5 million U.S. dollars) to the International Monetary Fund.

Analysts worried that Athens would eventually run out of cash and default on its debts.

On corporate news, shares of Gap dipped nearly 3 percent in Tuesday' s early trading after posting worse-than-expected quarterly results. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, the clothing retailer' s net sales decreased 3 percent to 3.66 billion dollars, compared with 3.77 billion dollars for the first quarter of last year.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 102.33 points, or 0.57 percent, to 18,002.84. The S&P 500 decreased 11.15 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,094.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 32.10 points, or 0.64 percent, to 4,961.48.

U.S. stocks ended lower following volatile trading on Monday, as investors were looking for excuses to lock in gains after Friday' s big rally. Endi