(MENAFN- AFP) US stocks fell in early trade Monday after Greece voters placed the leftist, anti-austerity party Syriza in power in a vote that could spell more turbulence for markets.
Traders shrugged off mostly forecast-beating results from a handful of medium-sized firms that launched a week in which nearly 150 Wall Street-traded firms turn in fourth-quarter earnings reports.
Thirty minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 61.62 points (0.35 percent) at 17,610.98.
The broader S&P 500 lost 5.85 (0.29 percent) at 2,045.97, while the Nasdaq Composite sagged 11.31 points (0.24 percent) to 4,746.56.
"Investors can expect Greek-led market volatility for at least six months until a Syriza-led government is better understood," said Tom Elliott, International Investment Strategist at London-based financial advisor deVere Group.
Also ahead is this week's Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting, on Tuesday and Wednesday, from which investors hope to glean more information on when the Fed might begin raising interest rates later this year.
Top losers among major companies included Visa (-1.6 percent), Cisco (-1.6 percent) and Intel (-1.3 percent).
Microsoft was down 0.9 percent ahead of its quarterly earnings report after the close of trade.
IBM shares jumped 1.9 percent after an unsubstantiated blog report said the company was poised to cut tens of thousands of jobs.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba added 1.0 percent.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 1.80 percent from 1.82 percent Friday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.37 percent from 2.39 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
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