Wall St. set to open lower as Greek talks falter

By Reuters

Jun 12, 2015 09:29 AM EDT

Wall Street was set to open lower as optimism regarding a resolution of the Greek debt crisis faded with the International Monetary Fund pulling out of bailout talks.

Greece said it would not cross its "red lines" as it looked to intensify political negotiations for an agreement, saying IMF's move was designed to put pressure on Athens.

Investors are also edgy ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meeting next week, which may provide clues regarding the timing of an interest rate hike.

"Investors don't want to make any big moves ahead of the meeting and Greece certainly continues to be a big factor," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.

U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday as retail sales data lifted the outlook for consumer spending and as healthcare shares gained.

S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 7.5 points, or 0.36 percent, with 239,506 contracts traded at 8:57 a.m. ET while Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 23 points, or 0.51 percent, on volume of 17,835 contracts and Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 60 points, or 0.33 percent, with 13,519 contracts changing hands.

U.S. producer prices in May recorded their biggest increase in more than 2-1/2 years as the cost of gasoline and food rose, suggesting that an oil-driven downward drift in prices was nearing an end.

The stabilization in producer prices should support views that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year. While the labor market had tightened, there had been few clear signs that inflation was poised to rise back toward the Fed's 2 percent target.

The University of Michigan's preliminary June reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment is expected to have grown to 91.5 from 90.7. That data is expected at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Economists and top Wall Street banks expect the Fed to raise rates in September, in what could be the central bank's first hike in almost a decade and a tightening of easy money that has driven stocks and bond prices to record highs in recent years.

Twitter Inc's (TWTR.N) shares were up 3.6 percent at $37.14 in premarket trading, a day after Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo abruptly announced he was stepping down.

T-Mobile (TMUS.N) jumped 1.8 percent to $38.80 after sources said Dish Network (DISH.O) was in talks to hire banks that would provide between $10 billion and $15 billion in debt to finance the cash portion of its bid for the company. Dish was up 1.6 percent at $73.95.

Leapfrog Enterprises (LF.N) slumped 16.9 percent to $1.72 after the toymaker posted a wider quarterly loss.

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