Wall Street traded lower today amid mounting worries Greece won’t strike a debt deal with its creditors in time to avoid default.
The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) fell 0.7 percent to 2,094.47 at 3:45 a.m. in Toronto. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) dropped 0.8 percent to 17,903.68, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) was down 0.6 percent at 5,053.
A day after the International Monetary Fund quit bailout talks with Greece, EU officials said they had held their first formal discussions on the worst-case scenario for the country.
Investors were edgy ahead of the Fed's Open Market Committee meeting next week — the central bank's last meeting before September — which they hope will provide clues on the timing of an interest rate hike.
An increase in rates will tighten the flow of easy money, which has driven stocks and bond prices to record highs, and raise borrowing costs for companies.
Analysts expect the Fed to raise rates in September, in what could be the central bank's first rise in almost a decade.
DATA:
Data today showed wholesale prices rose in May as the biggest jump in fuel costs in at least five years swamped muted advances in other categories. Costs dropped 1.1 percent over the past 12 months, in line with estimates.
A separate report showed consumer confidence rose more than forecast in June as Americans were the most upbeat about their wage prospects in seven years. According to data yesterday, consumers were more willing to spend, as increased retail sales reflected broad-based gains from car dealers to clothing outlets to department stores.
MOVERS:
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) wavered at $35.85 after chief executive officer Dick Costolo said he would step down July 1, in an announcement late yesterday. Co-founder Jack Dorsey will serve as interim CEO until a replacement is found.
Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) jumped 58 percent to $30.04 in its trading debut today. The restaurant chain priced its initial public offering of 5.8 million shares at $19 a share, above the expected range of $12 to $14.
Restoration Hardware Holdings (NYSE:RH) added 1.4 percent to $96.19 after the luxury home furnishings retailer said earnings soared on continued sales growth during the quarter ended in May.
LeapFrog Enterprises (NYSE:LF) sank 25 percent to $1.55. A developer of educational entertainment for children is betting that bringing its educational games to other companies’ devices will rekindle growth–but not until the fiscal 2017 holiday quarter.
FedEx (NYSE:FDX) fell 0.9 percent to $183.39 after saying it will book a $2.2 billion pretax charge for the quarter that ended in May, as the company changes to a mark-to-market pension accounting method.
ITT Educational Services (NYSE:ESI) jumped 10.4 percent to $4.59. The provider of postsecondary degree programs reported first-quarter earnings rose sharply as operating margin more than doubled from a year ago.
Bob Evans Farms (NASDAQ:BOBE) gained 2.8 percent to $47.41 after saying it will consider REIT conversion or sales-leaseback of its restaurant properties.
Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) picked up 2.1 percent to $33.43 after posting a bigger-than-expected 20 percent increase in earnings for its latest quarter, driven by higher fee revenue across its segments.
ExOne (NASDAQ:XONE) retreated 6.3 percent to $12.27 after the provider of three dimensional (3D) printing machines reported that its loss widened in the March quarter as the strong dollar dented the 3-D printing company’s revenue.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) fell 0.6 percent to $34.26 after saying a clinical study of its antidepressant Pristiq in children failed to show that the treatment was more effective than a placebo.
Aveo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVEO) sank 7.6 percent to $2.01 after the biopharmaceutical company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggested the company continue working on a biomarker assay before proceeding with a planned Phase 3 study of tivozanib in the treatment of colorectal cancer.
COMMODITIES:
Gold for August delivery on Comex fell 0.1 percent to settle at $1,179.20 an ounce.
July crude fell 1.3 percent to settle at $59.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.