US open: Stocks edge lower on GDP data, Greek woes

US stocks edged lower early on Wednesday as investors digested gross domestic product data and remained jittery over news that negotiations over Greece have stalled yet again.

Just after 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 71 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost four and 10 points respectively.

GDP in line with estimates

Data released by the US Department of Commerce on Wednesday showed that the economic slowdown in the first quarter was not as bad as previously estimated.

The final release of gross domestic product showed a 0.2% contraction at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate, up from a previous estimate of a 0.7% contraction, and in line with analysts’ expectations.

"Although the third estimate of first-quarter GDP reported revisions in line with our expectation, the upward revision to consumption was a bit less than expected and the boost from inventories was a bit more than expected," analysts at Barclays said in a note.

"Stronger inventory investment in the first quarter implies a larger sequential decline in the second quarter and, on net, a modestly larger drag on second-quarter GDP growth.

"As a result, our second-quarter GDP tracking estimate fell one-tenth to 3.0%

Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of application activity, which covers home purchase demand and refinancing demand, rose 1.6% in the week ended 19 June, only the second time the index has risen over the last nine weeks.

Greek deal stalls

According to media reports citing a Greek government official, prime minister Alexis Tsipras told associates that the measures he put forward in an attempt to unlock much-needed funds have been rejected.

"With the deal now being rejected and a counterproposal sent back, Tsipras will have to compromise a little further or risk negotiations collapsing once again," said Oanda's senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

"The difference now being that time is fast running out and Greece is on course to default to the IMF in six days."

The news led European stocks lower, while the euro was broadly against the dollar.

The greenback was largely stable against the pound and gained 0.20% against the yen, while gold futures fell 0.36% to $1,172.40.

Elsewhere, Asian stocks edged higher with the Nikkei 225 hitting an 18-year-high, while oil prices edged lower, with West Texas Intermediate shedding 0.13% and Brent losing 0.30% to $60.93 and $64.26 a barrel respectively.

In company news, internet video streaming network Netflix rose 1.80% after announcing a seven-for-one stock split late on Tuesday.

General Motors fell 1.74% after being downgraded from 'buy' to 'neutral' by analysts at Goldman Sachs, which lifted sector peer Ford Motor from 'neutral' to 'buy'. As a result, Ford climbed 1.54%.

Housebuilder Lennar Corp jumped 4.55% after posting better-than-expected second quarter earnings earlier on Wednesday.

Aerospace giant Boeing dropped 0.55% after its chief executive announced he will step down on 1 July.