Global stocks appear destined to notch up five weeks of losses out of the past six.
MSCI's all-country world stock index was down a quarter of a per cent, losing more than 6 per cent over six weeks and gaining only 1.5 percent for the year to date. The FTSE 100 was down 0.3 per cent, the CAC 40 down 0.6 per cent and the DAX barely 0.1 per cent lower. The Hang Seng lost 0.8 per cent, and the Nikkei bucked the trend, gaining 0.5 per cent.
U.S. stock futures indicated a lower opening on Wall Street, with Dow futures slipping 0.3 per cent to 12,010 and S&P 500 futures losing 0.3 per cent to 1,277.8.
Looks like investors are still worried about a slowing global economy and Europe's ongoing struggle to control Greek debt. The euro slid a third of a percent at $1.4456 (U.S.), despite the European Central Bank's indication that it will raise interest rates in July.
The Spanish/German 10-year government bond yield spread rose 10 basis points to 252 basis points, while the equivalent Italian spread was 6 bps wider on the day at 184.
Benchmark crude for July delivery was down 36 cents to $101.56 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold was flat at $1,542.70.
The loonie rose to $1.0277 (U.S.) after data showed that 22,300 jobs were created in May, bringing Canada's unemployment rate to 7.4 per cent, the lowest in more than two years.
Sonali Verma