Instead, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras surprised lenders at the weekend by calling a snap referendum on Greece’s bailout program and austerity measures.
Advertisement
THE QUOTE: The market is still down for the week after plunging on Monday as talks between Greece and its creditors broke down and the Greek government called for a popular vote on the bailout, which came as a surprise to the country’s creditors.
“There are obvious concerns that failure to reach some kind of an agreement could put Greece on a path to a eurozone exit”, said Ryan. European stocks have swung more than USA stocks in response to Greece’s financial situation. The S&P 500 Index closed up 14.32 points, or 0.7%, at 2,077.43.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 160 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,782 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26.26 points, or 0.53 percent, at 5,013.12.
ON THE USA ECONOMY: Investors got two encouraging reports on the economy.
“Whatever happens here, even if it’s the worst case scenario and Greece drops out (of the euro), the pullback probably wouldn’t be enormous”, said Scott Wren, a senior global equity strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
DirectTV rose 1.2 per cent on reports Justice Department antitrust regulators will approve its acquisition by AT&T for US$48.5 billion.
In deal news, Chubb soared 26 percent after agreeing to be acquired by rival insurance company Ace for about $28 billion.
We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. Credit-rating firm Standard & Poor’s said that a default, or a restructuring, of the island’s debt within the next six months appeared inevitable.
Puerto Rico’s governor said Monday night he will form a financial team to negotiate with bondholders on delaying debt payments and then restructuring $72 billion in public debt that he says the US island can’t repay.
“If Greece wasn’t happening, this would be a major story right now”, said JJ Kinanhan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.
MBIA dropped 58 cents, or 9.1 percent, to $5.53.
Nearly half of this slumping alternative energy stock’s float is sold short – but are option traders as bearish?
At the close, crude for August delivery fell $2.51, or 4.2%, to land at $56.96 per barrel – its lowest finish since late April.
The Department of Labor will release the official United States jobs report for June on Thursday.
CURRENCIES: In currency trading, the euro strengthened to $1.1075 from $1.1041 in the previous session.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury advanced to 2.42 percent from 2.36 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year rose to 3.21 percent from 3.13 percent.
Advertisement
“The market today took its cue from the European markets”, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
