----- Forwarded Message ---- Indications June 15, 2011, 7:00 a.m. EDT U.S. stock futures drop on Greece, growth worries Data on consumer prices, industrial production are due By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed to opening losses for Wall Street Wednesday, as worries about global growth and the failure of European officials to agree on a solution to the Greek debt crisis spooked investors. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 42 points to 11,976 and those on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 5.2 points to 1,279.30. Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 8.75 points to 2,238.20. Click to Play Lutz: Bring back the autocratic CEO Former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz attacks the modern corporate culture, which he claims is disconnected from its customers and its products. He also insists that the American car industry has a bright future ahead of it. The declines came ahead of a string of U.S. economic reports. At 8:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, data on May consumer prices and the June Empire State manufacturing index will be released. They will be followed by May industrial production at 9:15 a.m. Eastern and the NAHB Housing Market Index for June at 10 a.m. Eastern. Meanwhile, the Greek debt crisis remained in the spotlight after euro-zone officials failed to make progress on an aid deal at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. In Athens, the ASE Composite stock index sank 2.6% in intraday trading Wednesday, as Greece was paralyzed by a 24-hour general strike organized to protest the government’s new austerity measures. Other European equity markets also posted losses. “While the political standoff on the second Greek package continues, the risk of a vicious spiral of sovereign and bank credit downgrades points to growing financial distress as the risk of a disorderly Greek default looms large,” said currency strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman in a note. The euro slumped 0.8% against the U.S. dollar to $1.4315. The dollar index (NYE:DXY) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.7% to 74.924. U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday after data on May retail sales exceeded analyst expectations. The blue-chip Dow (DJI:DJIA) ended up 1% at 12,076.11, its best one-day percentage gain since May 31 and its highest closing level since Thursday. In other news, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke urged officials not to play politics with the U.S. debt ceiling. “Failing to raise the debt ceiling in a timely way would be self-defeating if the objective is to chart a course toward a better fiscal situation for our nation,” he said in a speech Tuesday. In the commodity markets Wednesday, crude oil for July delivery dropped 39 cents to $98.98 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex ahead of U.S. government data on petroleum inventories. On the corporate front, Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P) , an Internet radio firm, priced its initial public offering at $16 a share, which was above its target range. The stock will begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. In premarket trading, U.S.-listed shares of Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) (HEL:FI:NOK1V) dropped 3.8%. They rallied Tuesday after Nokia and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) agreed to settle all patent litigation. Copyright © 2011 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Intraday Data provided by SIX Telekurs and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Telekurs. Intraday data delayed per exchange requirements. Dow Jones Indexes (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Dow Jones IndexesSM from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Telekurs and is at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time
