US open: Slight gains following Greek presidential vote

US stocks were registering slight gains on Monday amid a dearth of economic data and reports of a failed Greek presidential election.

Early on Tuesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was rising 0.04% to 18,061 points and the S&P 500 by another 0.20% while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.02%.

Financial analyst Connor Campbell from Spreadex said: “With little in the way of economic news today, the focus is on Greece and its crucial final round of presidential elections.

“Whilst a democratic election should be nothing to fear for a Western country, economists are concerned it could lead to a victory for the left-wing Syriza part, and put Greece’s international bailout in jeopardy.”

IG market analyst Alastair McCaig added: “Without an input from either corporate or economic data, US traders could well decide to take their lead from their European counterparts today.”

Crude futures were advancing early in the day as the prompt month WTI contract opened up by around 0.599% at $55.06 a barrel, and Brent futures started higher by about 0.652% at $59.84 a barrel.

Campbell noted: “Attacks on oil ports in Libya seemed to answer some of the questions OPEC had left unanswered in relation to the worldwide oil glut currently affecting prices.”

“However, this bombing, unsurprisingly, couldn’t help it truly rebound above $60 per barrel, as oil still looks for help as the year comes to a close.”

Over on COMEX, gold futures were dropping 0.57% to $1,188.50 while the dollar was rising against the pound and the yen but falling against the euro.

The yield on a benchmark US 10-year Treasury was receding by three basis points to 2.22%.

Meanwhile, in the corporate world International Business Machines shares were falling 1.21% to $160.38 while Microsoft fell 0.81%.