(By Balachander) U.S. stocks closed in red as investors eyed a meet by the Eurogroup finance ministers to discuss aid to Cyprus and Greece.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.06 percent to end at 1,517.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.16 percent to finish at 13,971.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.06 percent to close at 3,192.
In the absence of major U.S. economic data and corporate earnings flow being light, investors await for any developments from the 17-member euro area meeting in Brussels.
Other domestic reports of interest due to be released over the week include: the Commerce Department's retail sales data, the New York Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey, the weekly jobless claims, consumer sentiment survey and the Federal Reserve's industrial production report.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: AAPL, NKE, NVO, REGN, SNY, AOL, RDN, CZR, DMND
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) gained 1.04 percent amid reports that the technology behemoth is developing a watch-like device that could perform some functions of a smartphone.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) said its partner Sanofi SA (NYSE: SNY) plans to raise its stake in the drug maker by acquiring shares in open market. REGN shares rose 2.69 percent, while SNY gained 3.20 percent.
Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) said the U.S. health regulators would not approve the Denmark-based drug maker's new drug applications (NDA) for insulin Tresiba and Ryzodeg. American depositary receipts (ADRs) of NVO plunged 13.98 percent.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) added 1.15 percent after JPMorgan Chase upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "neutral".
AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) gained 7.44 percent after RBC Capital Markets LLC upgraded its rating on the shares of the Web services company to "outperform" from "sector perform".
Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) fell 2.98 percent after the credit enhancement company posted a wider quarterly loss due to minimal gains on investments and change in fair value of derivatives. Revenue dropped 38 percent.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) tumbled 9.49 percent. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sparked hopes of legalized online gaming in the state.
Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) climbed 15.20 percent after BlackRock said it acquired a stake in the maker of Emerald nuts and Pop Secret popcorn. A regulatory filing showed the investment firm held a 7.85 percent stake in the San Francisco-based snack-food company.
Global Markets
European markets closed mixed, with Germany's DAX down 0.24 percent to close at 7,633.74. France's CAC40 added 0.03 percent to finish at 3,650.58. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.21 percent to end at 6,277.06.
The Chinese, Hong Kong and the Japanese market was shut for holidays. India's BSE Sensex closed 0.12 percent lower at 19,460.57.
Commodity & Currency Scan
Crude oil futures jumped 1.35 percent to $97.00 per barrel and natural gas futures added 0.46 percent to $3.29 per million metric British thermal units. Gold futures shed 0.98 percent to $1,650.60 per ounce and silver futures declined 1.35 percent to $31.02 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro advanced 0.26 percent against the U.S. dollar at 1.3400. The British pound lost 0.85 percent against the greenback to 1.5666, while the dollar jumped 1.33 percent against the Japanese yen to 93.9100.