U.S. stocks pull back on renewed Greece concerns

U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session on Thursday, as renewed worries about Greece debt crisis weighed on Wall Street.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 84.25 points, or 0.46 percent, to 18,078.74. The S&P 500 lost 9.31 points, or 0. 44 percent, to 2,114.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 18.48 points, or 0.36 percent, to 5,088.11.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed optimism Wednesday that Greece and its creditors were close to reaching a deal on the future handling of the Greek debt crisis after four months of tough negotiations.

However, European officials on Thursday denied a deal was near, saying the two sides still had some way to go before any agreement could be concluded and they were surprised by Athens' upbeat tone.

On the economic front, in the week ending May 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 282,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level, exceeding market consensus, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Overseas, China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plummeted 6.5 percent Thursday on profit taking and liquidity concerns after eight consecutive days of strong gains.

U.S. stocks rebounded strongly on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index setting its third closing record for 2015. Endite