Shares on Wall Street were mixed as the European sovereign debt crisis weighed on more optimistic indicators about the outlook closer to home.
In Greece, an interim government will help prepare for new elections next month, probably on June 17. No official announcement on the date has been made.
In the meantime, trouble seems to be mounting. The European Central Bank said today it has stopped providing liquidity to some Greek banks as they have not been successfully recapitalised, confirming an earlier report by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Greeks are concerned a potential exit from the euro will slash the value of their savings. Shares of National Bank of Greece sank 13 per cent. The nation's central bank chief said as much as 700 million euros had been withdrawn from Greek banks since the May 6 election.
Europe's Stoxx 600 Index dropped 0.6 per cent on the day. The euro traded as low as US$1.2681 earlier in the session, and was last 0.1 per cent weaker on the day, after earlier rising as much as 0.2 per cent.