U.S. stocks trimmed their losses and ended on a flat note, weighed by developments concerning Greece bailout and weaker-than-forecast retail sales growth data.
S&P 500 Index retreated 0.09 percent to finish at 1,350.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched 0.03 percent higher to end at 12,878.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 2,931.83, up 0.02 percent.
European finance ministers will not meet in Brussels on Wednesday to finalize 130 billion euro bailout for Greece, but opted to hold a conference call.
On economic front, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales for January grew 0.4 percent, trailing economists' expectations of a 0.8 percent rise.
Meanwhile, U.S. import prices advanced 0.3 percent in January, after falling 0.1 percent in December. Prices for U.S. exports also rose 0.2 percent following a 0.5 percent decline in the previous month. Economists estimated a 0.3 percent growth in import prices and a more modest 0.1 percent rise in export prices.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: (YHOO, ZNGA, KORS, RAX, MAS)
In corporate news, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) dropped as much as 7.4 percent after a report said negotiations over a possible sale of its Asian assets have entered into a deadlock. "The cash-rich deal seems dead now," AllThingsDigital quoted one source as saying. The stock ended at $15.36, down 4.68 percent.
MetLife Inc. (NYSE:MET) advanced 1.31 percent to $37.81 in extended trading after the company posted its quarterly results. Operating EPS was $1.31, versus consensus estimate of $1.24. Total operating revenue rose 19 percent to $16.4 billion, versus estimate of $16.8 billion.
Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA) retreated 5.7 percent to $13.50 in extended trading after the company posted a quarterly loss. On a GAAP basis, the company lost $1.22 a share, compared with EPS of 5 cents in the same period of last year. Non-GAAP EPS nearly halved to 5 cents from 9 cents. Revenue jumped 59 percent to $311.2 million.
Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) spiked 27.4 percent to end at $42.83 after the apparel retailer posted third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.28, breezing past consensus estimate of $0.09. It sees fourth-quarter EPS of $0.10 to $0.20 and 2012 adjusted EPS of $0.74 to $0.76. The consensus estimates are for EPS of $0.11 and $0.52, respectively.
Rackspace Hosting Inc.