- Title: MARKET-STOCKS/USA CLOSE/CME Energy leads Wall St lower with eyes on Greece, China
- Date: 6th July 2015
- Summary: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) MORE OF CME GROUP FLOOR TRADERS EMPTY TRADING PIT
- Embargoed: 21st July 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA1B24HW1GF9K2VCLYCNDU1VPOL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. stocks fell in a volatile Monday (July 6) session as Greeks resoundingly backed their government in rejecting the austerity terms of a bailout and China implemented emergency measures to stop a selloff in Shanghai's market.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promised German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Greece would bring a proposal for a cash-for-reforms deal to an emergency summit of euro zone leaders on Tuesday, a Greek official said. It was unclear how much it would differ from other proposals rejected in the past.
Equity futures tumbled at the open late on Sunday after Greeks voted 'No' to the terms imposed by its creditors. However the S&P 500 didn't fall more than 1 percent throughout the Monday session and even turned positive in morning trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.53 points, or 0.26 percent, to 17,683.58, the S&P 500 lost 8.02 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,068.76 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 17.27 points, or 0.34 percent, to 4,991.94.
Weighing further on investor sentiment, Chinese brokerages and fund managers vowed to buy massive amounts of stocks as Beijing unleashed an unprecedented series of support measures to stem a decline of nearly 30 percent in the main Shanghai index over the past three weeks.
The Shanghai index rose 2.4 percent overnight but a measure of Chinese stocks traded in the United States fell the most in 19 months, pointing to caution from investors outside of China about the effectiveness of the government's measures.
Energy stocks led the decline on Wall Street after U.S. crude futures prices settled almost 8 percent lower on concern over growth in China and the Greek uncertainty.
The S&P 500 energy index fell 1.3 percent, marking its fourth decline of more than 1 percent in the past seven sessions.
Health insurer Aetna fell 6.4 percent to $117.43 (USD) after it said it would buy smaller rival Humana for about $37 billion. Humana closed up 0.8 percent to $188.96.
The deal is seen facing antitrust scrutiny, which could make other large-scale mergers in the sector more difficult. Anthem, Cigna, Centene and Health Net, which are all in takeover talks, ended lower.
Also Monday, CME Group closed most of its open-outcry futures markets.
CME, the world's largest futures exchange operator, announced in February that it would close most of its open-outcry futures markets in Chicago and New York due to dwindling volumes and migrate trading to its electronic platform. The decision came after floor volumes fell to 1 percent of CME total futures volume, according to the company.
The demise of the open-outcry pits was foreshadowed at least since 2006, when the volume of trade in CBOT grain futures conducted electronically first surpassed pit-traded volume.
The rough-and-tumble times of the floor were an iconic part of Chicago, and their passing is lamented by historians and traders alike - even though history suggests traders will swiftly adapt. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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