Stocks Slightly Lower as Greece Debt Talks Resumed

U.S. stocks were slightly lower in the early trading on Tuesday as investors remained cautious while Greece and its international creditors hold meetings that could determine the country’s future in the eurozone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 37.25 points, or 0.21%, to 17,646.33. The S&P 500 was down 3.97 points, or 0.19%, to 2,064.79. The Nasdaq Composite shed 23.46 points, or 0.47%, to 4,968.48.

The head of the group of eurozone finance ministers was upbeat heading into a crucial meeting for Greece on Tuesday. But like other European officials who said they were willing to listen to the latest Greek bailout proposal, he indicated that the onus was on Athens to offer something new and specific.

European Council President Donald Tusk spoke with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday to prepare for an emergency euro zone summit later in the day.

The U.S. trade gap expanded modestly in May. The trade deficit increased by 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted $41.87 billion in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Home prices rose in May during the hot spring sales market, pushing annual growth to a 10-month high. With demand butting against a relatively low supply of homes available for sale, a gauge of housing prices increased 1.7% in May, while year-over-year growth rose to 6.3%, the fastest annual pace since July, said CoreLogic, an Irvine, Calif.–based analysis firm.

The Irish drug maker Horizon Pharma said on Tuesday that it had made an unsolicited offer to acquire its smaller American rival Depomed in an all-share deal valued at about $3 billion, the latest sign of the flurry of deal making in the drug industry.