North American stocks opened relatively flat on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about Europe’s economy and a view from Fitch Ratings that Greece was by no means in the clear following the recent bailout.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3 points, to 12,968. The broader S&P 500 fell 1 point or less than 0.1 per cent, to 1,361. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 27 points or 0.2 per cent, to 12,651.
The moves follow a lacklustre day on Tuesday, when markets seemed unimpressed with the deal in Europe to give €130-billion in bailout money to Greece, averting a messy default. On Wednesday, Fitch downgraded Greece’s credit rating again, saying that a default in highly likely in the near term – which suggests that the sovereign debt crisis is far from over.
Energy stocks showed some strength, even as the price of crude oil settled back following Tuesday’s strong gains. Suncor Energy Inc. SU-T rose 1 per cent and Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM-N rose 0.4 per cent.
However, Dell Inc. DELL-Q slid 5.9 per cent after its fourth-quarter earnings, released on Tuesday evening, missed analysts’ expectations. JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell 0.5 per cent and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT-N fell 0.9 per cent, a day after the retailer reported disappointing quarterly results, sending the stock down sharply.
