Concerns about the world economy helped tug US stocks to slight losses yesterday. Major indexes followed European markets lower as worries mount over Greece’s standoff with its creditors.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 82 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 17,741 as of 1.45 pm Eastern time.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped six points, or 0.3 per cent, to 2,049, while the Nasdaq composite fell seven points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4,736.

On Sunday, Greece’s new prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, set his government on a collision course with the country’s creditors. Tsipras declared an end to a regimen of budget cuts and tax increases and said he would push for a “bridge agreement” that would give Greece and its creditors time to negotiate a new lending arrangement. Greece and its European creditors were expected to discuss the issue later this week.

For investors, the fear is that if Greece drops the European currency, it could have unpredictable consequences for the wider financial system. Other countries with much larger economies might follow Greece out the exit.

Major markets in Europe fell. France’s CAC-40 lost 0.9 per cent, and Germany’s DAX fell 1.7 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2 per cent.

Before the market opened, McDonald’s reported that a key measure of global sales shrank last month, as sales slumped across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The world’s biggest hamburger chain dropped $1.11, or one per cent, to $92.88.

Hasbro jumped $3.98, or eight per cent, to $60.08 after the toy company turned in stronger quarterly results. Sales of toys geared toward boys increased 21 per cent, led by Transformers, Nerf and Marvel-brand action heroes. Hasbro also raised its dividend and expanded plans to buy back its own shares.

It’s just past the half-way mark for the fourth-quarter earnings season, and the results are shaping up better than Wall Street had expected. Seven out of 10 big companies have turned in higher profits than analysts had forecast, putting overall earnings on track to rise seven per cent for the full quarter, according to S&P Capital IQ.

US crude oil surged $2.17, or four per cent, to $53.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That lifted stocks in companies tied to the oil industry.

Investors reacted to Chinese trade data released Sunday that showed imports fell nearly 20 per cent over a year earlier. Exports were also weak, dropping 3.2 per cent from a year earlier, heightening concerns about the world’s second-largest economy.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.4 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.1 per cent.

Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also closed lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.4 per cent.

In the market for US government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.93 per cent.

Gold rose $6.90 to $1,241.50 an ounce, silver rose 38 cents to $17.07 an ounce and copper edged down half a penny to $2.85 a pound.

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