Dow Edges Lower After ECB Ends Waiver on Greek Collateral

US stocks gave up late gains Wednesday after the European Central Bank put fresh pressure on Athens by lifting its waiver on the use of Greek bonds as collateral.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up just 6.62 points (0.04 per cent) at 17,673.02, after climbing near 17,800 only moments earlier.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 8.52 (0.42 per cent) to 2,041.51, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 11.03 (0.23 per cent) at 4,716.70.

The ECB move darkened hopes that Greece's new government could quickly reach a deal on modifying their bailout and avoid a new eurozone crisis.

The ECB move means Greek banks cannot pledge their government bonds as liquidity collateral from February 11, leaving them dangerously short of access to funding.

The news from Frankfurt capped a choppy day for US equity markets with oil prices falling sharply and US economic data and earnings coming in mixed.

Dow member Disney surged 7.6 per cent as first-quarter earnings per share jumped 23 per cent from a year earlier on a nine percent rise in revenues.

But fellow Dow member Merck lost 3.2 per cent on a disappointing earnings forecast as the drugmaker contends with major patent expirations. It forecast earnings per share $3.32-$3.47, below the Wall Street projection of $3.49.

Gilead Sciences, another drugmaker, plummeted 8.2 per cent on a disappointing sales forecast due to discounts on its blockbuster Sovaldi drug, a treatment for hepatitis C.

Staples dropped 12.0 per cent after announcing it would acquire rival Office Depot in a deal worth $6.3 billion. Office Depot rose 2.2 per cent. The transaction is expected to get close scrutiny from antitrust regulators.

General Motors bolted 5.4 per cent higher as it hiked its dividend on better-than-expected earnings.

Rival Ford Motor gained 1.4 per cent after announcing it would hire 1,550 workers in response to growing consumer demand for its new aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup truck.

Chipotle Mexican Grill fell 7.0 per cent as fourth-quarter net income rose 11.3 per cent to $121.2 million. Barclays said the results were solid, but below expectations.

Bond prices rose. The yield of the 10-year US Treasury fell to 1.75 per cent from 1.79 per cent Tuesday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.34 per cent from 2.38 per cent. Bond yields and prices move inversely.