US stocks drop on Greek default fears

New York - Wall Street stocks on Monday followed European equity markets lower, dropping on growing fears of a Greek default and exit from the eurozone.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 95.08 points (0.53%) to 17 729.21.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 8.73 (0.42%) to 2 046.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 18.39 (0.39%) to 4 726.01.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed over the weekend to stand by his anti-austerity electoral promises, raising worries of a default on €315bn in debt.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she awaited a "sustainable" proposal from Greece that respected the "basic rules" of the bailout programme as set by international lenders.

The Athens stock market closed down nearly 5%, and markets in Britain, France and Germany also fell.

"The concern of a messy exit of Greece (plays) on the backdrop of an European economy that is already unstable," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

Dow member McDonald's fell 1.4% as global comparable sales dropped 1.8% in January. Sales fell 12.6% in its Asia/Pacific-Middle East-Africa region, due in part to weakness in Japan.

Airline stocks sank after American Airlines trimmed its profit forecast, in part due to higher-than-expected fuel costs. Data also showed lower customer traffic on planes in January 2015 compared with the year-ago period.

American fell 3.4%, Delta Air Lines lost 2.3% and United Continental dropped 4.5%.

Toymaker Hasbro rose 7.0% after reporting fourth-quarter net income gained 4.1%. Sales jumped 21% in the boy's category thanks to strong performance of super-hero figures and other toys associated with Marvel comics.

Drilling company Diamond Offshore finished up 2.4% as net income translated into 72 cents per share, above the 65c projected by analysts. The company cut its special dividend in response to sinking investment from oil companies.

Motorola Solutions, which develops communications and software technology, rose 4.8% on a report that it is seeking a buyer. Potential buyers include private-equity firms and defense contractors, according to Bloomberg News.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 1.96%, while the 30-year advanced to 2.54% from 2.53% on Friday.