US markets end lower on Greek fears

Excerpts from Power Breakfast on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show »

By Gautam Broker, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

** US equity markets pause in the absence of economic cues whereas Greece misses another deadline on Monday

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says, time is running out; Greece must make up its mind on accepting austerity measures

Leaders of Greek coalition government seek an additional day for negotiations 

Greek FM says, 'New issues continuously arise despite progress made on some fronts'

Greek PM reportedly struck a tentative deal with party leaders to extend spending cuts; but final deal not through

US markets closed flat: The S&P 500 Index was flat at 1,344; Dow Jones was down 17 points at 12,845; Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1% at 2,901

European markets closed lower on Monday: FTSE was down 0.2%; DAX was down 0.03%; CAC slipped 0.6%

**Brent crude hits a 6-month high above USD 116.5/bbl intraday trade yesterday.

Asia today

Taiwan and Hang Seng were up 0.5%. Kospi rose 0.3%.

However, Nikkei fell 0.2% and Shanghai declined 0.5%

SGX Nifty was up 36 points or 0.7% at 5,397

Currencies

Euro saw a low of 1.302 to the dollar yesterday

But rebounds from the support; it was near 1.312 to the dollar today morning 

Dollar Index hit session's high of 79.5

But retreating after Euro rebound to near 79 today morning

Australian dollar was at 1.07 to the US dollar; Central bank will decide on rates today 

Commodities

Brent crude saw gains for 5th consecutive session due to cold winter in Europe

It hits USD 116/barrel, but settled up 1.2% at USD 115.93/barrel on Monday 

Dollar strength keeps other commodities subdued

CRB Index ended flat; WTI crude was down 1% at USD 96.9/barrel.

US gold and copper were down 0.9%

US cues

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to speak on the economy; testifies to the Senate Budget Committee

US Consumer Credit for December