USA stocks edge lower in early trade as Greece talks proceed

Often used as a liquid proxy for China plays, the Aussie was hit hard on Wednesday after a rout in Chinese stocks fanned fears that officials were unable to stabilize a market that has dropped about 30 percent in a month.The near-term outlook for the Aussie hinges on Australian employment data and Chinese inflation figures due at 0130 GMT.

Other markets in Asia are also sharply down.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 17 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,051.

CRUDE: Benchmark US crude fell 39 cents to $52.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Analysts say Greece has little time left before its banks run out of cash.

“This is not driven by the USA where the economy and conditions are relatively stable, it’s really being driven by a host of factors globally – oil, China, Greece and European equities”, said Robert Sinche, a strategist at Amherst Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut.

“Our rules oblige us to stop immediately at the point when there is no prospect of a political accord on a program, or at the point when the Greek banking system crumbles – which would happen if it enters generalized default on all its debts”, he said. He demanded European solidarity for a new deal.

The ICE USA dollar index DXY, +0.29% a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.1% to 96.3600. I don’t think anyone has.

Microsoft shares fell 2.2 percent to $43.75 in premarket trading after the New York Times reported the company plans to announce a new round of layoffs to cut costs further. A plunge in commodity prices helped pull stocks in material producers down more than the rest of the market.

The dollar traded lower against the euro and yen on Wednesday, after minutes from a June meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers revealed that several members of the rate-setting committee would be hesitant to raise rates with the threat of a Greek exit from the euro looming over Europe’s economy.

Beijing, which has struggled for more than a week to bend the market to its will, unveiled yet another battery of measures to arrest the sell-off, and the People’s Bank of China said it would step up support to brokerages enlisted to prop up shares.

The euro was down about 0.2 percent on the day at Dollars 1.0989, after falling as low as Dollars 1.0916 on Tuesday, its lowest since June 2.

USA stock futures were down 0.7 percent, suggesting that the gloomy mood might continue throughout the global session even after Wall Street’s major indexes closed higher on Tuesday.