Blue Chips Fret Again Over Greece

Stocks drifted lower, putting on hold five weeks of gains for the broader market, as investors shifted their focus to wrangling in Greece over fiscal austerity.

U.S. stocks declined, giving pause to the recent rally, as investors shifted their focus to wrangling in Greece over fiscal austerity, Brendan Conway reports on Markets Hub.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 17.10 points, or 0.1%, to 12845.13. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 0.57 point, or 0.1%, to 1344.33, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 3.67 points, or 0.1%, to 2901.99. Monday's declines come on the heels of five straight weeks of gains in the S&P 500, the! benchma rk's longest winning streak since March 2010.

Seven of the S&P 500's 10 sectors finished in the red Monday, led lower by materials and financials. Travelers fell 1.3%, while Pfizer and Boeing each fell 1.2%, leading blue chips lower.

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U.S. stock declines followed European markets. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.1%, its first loss in five sessions, as Greece's political leaders tried to agree on fiscal-austerity measures needed to keep Athens from defaulting on its debts next month. Greece agreed to cut 15,000 public-sector workers by the end of this year, while a meeting scheduled for Monday between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and other political leaders on reforms being demanded by the country's creditors was delayed until Tuesday.

"The market has come! a long way," said Jerry Webman, chief economist of OppenheimerFunds. "It's gotten mostly reinforcing macroeconomic news. But you do get up this morning and see again this stalemate or case of brinksmanship in Europe, and you remember that the fairly tepid recovery we're seeing in the U.S. and other places means it's vulnerable. When you don't have a lot of momentum, it's easier to stop it."

Reuters

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Jonathan Cheng looks at struggling corporate profits in the face of multiyear highs enjoyed by corporate stocks. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

In corporate news, shares of Humana slid 5.5% after the health insurer's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue missed expectations, and after it provided a downbeat earnings outlook for the current quarter even as it raised the full-year outlook.

HCA Holdings' fourth-quarter earnings soared as the hospital operator posted a gain of $1.52 billion related to its recent acquisition of a controlling interest in a Denver-area hospital system. Shares climbed 7.3%.

Hasbro added 2.3% after the toy maker reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue in line with expectations but indicated growth in the U.S. and Canada segment was weaker than anticipated.

Sysco's fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 3.6% as higher costs masked the food-service supplier's stronger-than-expected sales growth. Shares fell 3.7%.

SureWest Communications surged 45% after the company said it agreed to be acquired by Consolidated Communications Holdings in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $340.9 million, excluding debt. Consolidated Communications declined 1.4%.

Sohu.com slid 15% after the Chinese Internet portal reported fourth-quarter results that beat estimates but provided a first-quarter outlook that was below current forecasts.

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