Uncertainty surrounding Greece will continue to tug at markets Thursday, as traders await the pricing of the big Facebook IPO. Huge demand for the offering encouraged Facebook to sell even more shares, and now its giant IPO could bring in a record USD 18.4 billion, more than the USD 17.9 billion record offering of Visa shares. If Facebook prices at the top of its range, its valuation would be USD 104 billion. "It will be Facebook that will be the big story and everything else will pale in comparison," said Daniel Greenhaus, global market strategist at BTIG. "But at the end of the day it`s going to be a moment in time when people focus on it-and presumably move on to other items." Stock-market strategists do not expect the Facebook deal to have much general market impact, but it will be critical to the IPO market that Facebook stock rises after the offering, and ... Read More

With Europe's latest crisis keeping markets on edge, investors are hoping to find clues as to what might tip the Fed towards more easing in Wednesday's release of Fed meeting minutes. Even though the Fed has signaled it has no plans for new easing, investors will study the minutes of its April meeting when they are released at 2 pm. for any hint of what would cause the Fed to embark on a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) . Markets are also watching the latest developments from Europe, an increasing cause for concern now that Greece's efforts to form a government have failed and its banks appear to be under stress. Late day reports that depositors had withdrawn 700 million euros from Greek banks sent stocks tumbling into the final hour of trading Tuesday. The fear that a bank 'run' was underway fed concerns that Greece would leave the euro zone, and ... Read More

More volatility could be in store for US stocks next week as investors grapple with less certainty about the US economic outlook and a new blow to the financial sector after JPMorgan Chase's trading loss. Europe is expected to keep investors jumpy as well, with inconclusive results from the recent Greek election and the country's future appearing more worrisome. The US economic picture appears cloudy these days, with some data showing a more positive trend and other reports showing the opposite. An index of consumer sentiment rose to its highest in a more than four years, but last week's US jobs report showed another monthly decline in hiring. Next week brings minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which investors will look to for more guidance on whether the central bank plans to give additional help to the US economy. Stocks closed lower for a second straight week on Friday after a week of ... Read More

The US markets faded in the final minutes of trading to close flat but still managed to break their longest losing streak in nine months. The Dow snapped a six-day negative run. The S&P 500 closing a quarter percent higher and the Nasdaq a tad bit weaker as investors continue to be cautious amid ongoing uncertainty in the euro zone. There is some after hours actions on the banking space. Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.16% or 19.98 points at 12855.04. Nasdaq Composite was down 0.04% or 1.07 points at 2933.64. Standard & Poor's 500 was up 0.25% or 3.41 points at 1357.99. On economic data front, weekly jobless claims edged down 1,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 367,000. However, the US trade deficit widened more than expected in March to USD 51.8 billion, the biggest gain in nearly a year. In key data to watch out for in the US ... Read More