Major Averages Posting Steep Losses In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - With traders expressing concerns about the ongoing crisis in Greece, stocks have moved notably lower in early trading on Monday. The major averages have slid firmly into negative territory, adding to the losses posted last week.

The early weakness on Wall Street comes as the latest round of talks between Greece and its creditors broke down over the weekend.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras subsequently called for a referendum on the bailout proposals by creditors on July 5th.

The country is required to make a 1.6 billion euro payment to the IMF on June 30th, and the Greek Prime Minister is seeking to get an extension until the referendum.

With the European Central Bank opting to freeze the emergency liquidity assistance for Greek banks in the wake of the referendum call, Greece decided to close its banks and imposed capital controls.

Financial stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances in early trading, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the Dow Jones Banks Index falling by 2.2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Steel, internet, semiconductor, and airline stocks are also seeing notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Currently, the major averages are posting steep losses, near their lows for the young session. The Dow is down 154.44 points or 0.9 percent at 17,729.24, the Nasdaq is down 50.57 points or 1 percent at 5,029.94 and the S&P 500 is down 18.09 points or 0.9 percent at 2,083.40.