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US stocks drop as Greek debt deal stumbles
US stocks dropped on opening Friday as the Greek debt deal faced new domestic political problems and Chinese trade data showed the country's economy slowing.
A half-hour into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 134.56 points (1.04 percent) at 12,755.90.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 14.07 (1.04 percent) to 1,337.88, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 31.90 (1.09 percent) to 2,895.33.
Cracks in the Greek coalition government and violence on the streets appeared to spell trouble for the country's commitment to an austerity program demanded by lenders preparing a massive new debt restructuring and bailout program for the country.
Meanwhile, a fall in China's imports and exports in January, while distorted by the lunar new year holiday, added to mounting evidence that the world's second-largest economy was slowing as the eurozone crisis and weakness in the United States hurt demand for Chinese products.
"The primary concern for the market this morning is concentrated on the Greek debt situation as unions there take to the streets and EU finance ministers demand even more austerity cuts," said The Hightower Report.
"This comes in contrast to yesterday's tone, with the market factoring in an agreement."
"Reports from both Europe and China have been underwhelming, while domestic data has been limited to news that the trade deficit grew slightly more than expected to $48.8 billion," said Briefing.com.
On top of that the University of Michigan consumer confidence survey for showed a fall in sentiment in January.
All 30 of the Dow blue chips were down, led by a 2.7 percent fall in Alcoa, which is sensitive to Chinese growth data, and JPMorgan Chase, which fell 1.3 percent.
Bond prices gained as the dollar surged on the new eurozone worries.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.99 from 2.05 percent on Thursday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.15 percent from 3.19 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
