By Corrie Driebusch and Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stocks were little changed Friday as investors continued to
watch deliberations about Greece's bailout.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.5 points, or 0.1%, to
17995. The S&P 500 slipped 1.5 points, or 0.1%, to 2096, while
the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.4 points, or 0.1%, to 4929.
"I'm surprised the markets are paying as little attention to
Greece as they are," said Kate Warne, investment strategist at
Edward Jones. "It suggests investors have learned from past
episodes that what we tend to see is a lot of posturing and then a
last-minute deal."
She added that this relative calm concerns her.
"My worry is if the market isn't providing pressure on
negotiators, what's going to force them to reach a deal?" she
said.
U.S. stocks haven't been making any big moves in recent sessions
as Greece and its creditors argue over a new financing deal. On
Thursday, Germany rejected a Greek proposal to extend its bailout
program. Eurozone ministers were meeting Friday for continued
negotiations, and many investors say that a deal will eventually be
reached that will prevent Greece from leaving the eurozone.
For the week, the Dow has lost 0.2%, and the S&P has added
less than 0.1%, through Thursday's close.
Traders said buying and selling activity was subdued on Friday,
in part because of stocks' recent moves to new all-time highs.
"Why would buyers push the market higher given the issues
they're looking at coming down the pipe in the next couple weeks?"
said Tom Carter, managing director at brokerage JonesTrading,
referring to the negotiations in Greece, upcoming domestic data and
expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will give more clarity
on timing for an interest-rate increase.
On Friday, stocks were also quiet in Europe and Asia, where many
markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. European stocks
were little changed, with France's CAC 40 down 0.1%, and Germany's
DAX rising 0.4%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.4% to hit
another 15-year high.
Global stocks have hit multiyear highs or records in recent
sessions, supported by easing actions at central banks. The Stoxx
Europe 600 closed at its highest level since late 2007 on Thursday,
while the DAX ended Thursday at its 13th record of the year. The
Nasdaq is trading at a 15-year high.
"I can't underscore enough the significance of this ECB
quantitative-easing program," said Greg Sarian, managing director
and partner at HighTower Advisors. "You now have all the major
central banks around the world keeping rates low," he said, which
will help stocks outperform bonds again this year.
Even when the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, if the pace
is modest, it shouldn't prevent U.S. stocks from notching gains for
the year, he added.
U.S. oil prices declined for a third day in a row, with
crude-oil futures slipping 0.2% to $51.74 a barrel. Gold futures
declined 0.03% to $1,207.20 an ounce.
Treasury prices inched higher, pushing the 10-year note yield
down to 2.064% from 2.112% on Thursday.
Among individual stocks, Newmont Mining Corp. shares rose 6.5%
as the gold miner swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, largely
on the sale of its stake in its Penmont joint venture to
precious-metals miner Fresnillo PLC.
Shares of Intuit Inc. rose 5.4% after its chief financial
officer said Thursday that the online tax-software company hasn't
seen any indications that its systems were breached in connection
with a wave of fraudulent tax-return filings this month.
Fannie Mae said its profit declined in the most recent quarter
while it again warned that more declines are likely in the future.
Shares fell 2.3%.
Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com and Saumya
Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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