NEW YORK — U.S. stocks were under pressure in early trading Monday after angry voters in Greece and France rejected painful budget cuts demanded by international lenders.
Investors are uncertain over how the results will affect Europe’s plans to rein in spending and keep the euro zone’s debt crisis from worsening.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 24 points to 13,013 in the first half-hour of trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 edged up less than a point to 1,369. The Nasdaq composite index was nearly unchanged at 2,956.
In Europe, most markets recovered from early losses and turned higher. Greece was the exception: the main index in Athens plunged 6.6 percent after Greek voters expressed their anger over crippling income cuts by punishing mainstream politicians. No party has enough votes to govern alone, leaving the parliament split. French voters ousted President Nicolas Sarkozy and elected Socialist Francois Hollande, who pledged "to finish with austerity."
The verdict from European voters will likely force leaders there to go back to the table in coming up with a more acceptable solution to the debt crisis that has plagued many nations.
No matter what the outcome may be, the path forward seems fraught with uncertainty.
That was reflected in how the markets have reacted. Greek shares plunged 8.2 percent in early trading, then recouped some ground. France’s CAC-40 was up 0.7 percent and Spain’s Ibex-35 was up 1.5 percent. Germany’s DAX was flat.
Bond investors were also uncertain. The benchmark yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.83 percent overnight, but by mid-morning Eastern time it was back up to 1.86 percent, only slightly below the 1.88 percent level it was trading at late Friday.
