US stocks trade lower on Greece fears

US stocks opened lower this morning (June 2nd) on ongoing worries over Greece's situation as it struggles to reach an agreement with its European creditors on bailout terms. A €300 million (£216 million) payment from Greece to the International Monetary Fund is due on Friday.

Investors are also awaiting data that could provide clues on the timing of a US rate hike. Data on April factory orders is due later today. May new vehicle sales are also due later today. Other reports due this week include data on the April US trade deficit and nonfarm payrolls report for May.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 0.23 per cent to 17,998.26 after the opening bell, the S&P 500 lost 0.26 per cent to 2,106.3 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.32 per cent to 5,066.71.

Final offer

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said today he has issued "a realistic proposal" to its international creditors, the BBC reports. "We have submitted a realistic plan for Greece to exit the crisis," he said, adding that the plan included "concessions that will be difficult".

His statement follows talks in Berlin attended by the heads of both the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

They are preparing a draft agreement to present to Greece, which would unlock the next tranche of bailout cash. According to one official involved in the talks quoted by MarketWatch, this will be the “final” offer to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Analysts remain cautious about the outcome of the negotiations: “You have this Greek situation, which seems to be coming to some type of head," Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, told the Wall Street Journal. He said it remains unclear whether “the eventual agreement is going to be another temporary agreement … where we do this again for another three or four months.”