North American stocks slumped at the start of trading on Tuesday, over mixed quarterly earnings and rising concerns about Greece's ability to reach an agreement with private creditors
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 79 points or 0.6 per cent, to 12,630. The broader S&P 500 fell 8 points or 0.6 per cent, to 1308. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 116 points or 0.9 per cent, to 12,406.
Verizon Communications Ltd. fell 2.4 per cent after reporting a steep loss in the fourth quarter, due to charges. Johnson & Johnson rose 0.3 per cent after its profits slid 89 per cent.
U.S. banks were weak, with Bank of America Corp. down 1.7 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. down 1.6 per cent.
Among Canadian stocks, Research In Motion Ltd. continued its most recent bout of weakness, falling 4.4 per cent. The stock fell sharply on Monday after its co-chief executives stepped down from the BlackBerry maker.
In other moves, Royal Bank of Canada fell 2 per cent, Barrick Gold Corp. fell 1.8 per cent and Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.7 per cent.
David Berman