Market Wrap: Stocks Slip on Greece Worries, Tepid Job Data
Stocks closed slightly lower Thursday after the International Monetary Fund warned Greece ahead of its Sunday referendum that it faces a huge financial hole and mixed jobs data dampened the U.S. economic outlook.
While the IMF was warning that Greece needed an extra 50 billion euros over the next three years to stay afloat, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was urging voters to reject a bailout offer from lenders and saying he hoped to sign a new deal Monday.
Given the referendum on Sunday in Greece and the holiday weekend, at least for today the action was somewhat muted compared to the rest of the week.
"Given the referendum on Sunday in Greece and the holiday weekend, at least for today the action was somewhat muted compared to the rest of the week." Michael Arone, chief investment strategist for State Street Global Advisors' U.S. Intermediary Business.
Trading volume remained low ahead of a long weekend. U.S. markets won't open Friday to observe Independence Day.
Slowing U.S. job growth in June tempered expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate increase in September.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 223,000 last month, below the 230,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters, while average hourly earnings were unchanged in June, taking the year-on-year increase to a paltry 2 percent.
