NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks dipped on Tuesday as talks to resolve Greece's debt crisis faltered and after some lackluster earnings reports, threatening a five-day winning streak.

Greece moved closer to the possibility of a chaotic default after euro zone officials rejected a final offer from the country's private bondholders. The country's private creditors pleaded with European officials to hammer together a deal.

"They don't seem that far apart, I don't think anyone is really discounting that is going to blow up. At this point, people think they are going to come to some resolution. They have to get the pin back in the hand grenade somehow," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 44.16 points, or 0.35 percent, at 12,664.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 3.76 points, or 0.29 percent, at 1,312.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 1.00 points, or 0.04 percent, at 2,783.17.

Developments in Greece overshadowed solid, but largely unspectacular corporate earnings. This week marks one of the busiest in the fourth-quarter earnings season.

According to the latest Thomson Reuters data, 20 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, with 58 percent topping Wall Street expectations, less than usual at this point in the earnings season.

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) and Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N) were the biggest drags on the Dow after posting quarterly results.

Travelers posted a smaller-than-estimated profit as it released less money from its reserves than a year earlier, but it also reported its biggest rate increases in eight years. The stock fell 3.6 percent to $58.10, but analysts expected the drop and called it a buying opportunity.

Verizon's profit missed estimates by a penny as its wireless business was hit by the high costs of sales of advanced phones such as the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhone.

McDonald's reported stronger-than-expected December sales, but its shares fell on investor concerns its profit may have beat expectations only because of income not related to its operations.

McDonald's fell 1.9 percent to $99, and Verizon shed 1.7 percent to $37.75.

Traders said they were impressed by the market's continued ability to shrug off bad news. A five-day run has helped put the benchmark S&P index up more than 4 percent for the year.

Results from some other large U.S. corporations, including DuPont (DD.N) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) failed to ignite much enthusiasm.

"Obviously (Greece) is a pall over the market, these earnings numbers weren't that great this morning, but the way the market acts right now you could see it close up on the day. It just doesn't act that bad," said Massocca.

DuPont shares edged up 0.5 percent to $49.58 after its quarterly revenue rose 14 percent but missed estimates.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) advanced 0.4 percent at $65.25 on better-than-expected quarterly earnings, even as the diversified healthcare company forecast 2012 earnings below estimates.

The Federal Open Market Committee has begun a two-day meeting and will also start a new practice of announcing policymakers' interest rate projections when the meeting ends on Wednesday in a move it hopes will bring greater public clarity to its decision-making.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

NEW YORK – Wall Street futures are slightly higher as the market looks to regain its early year momentum after a lackluster response to strong U.S. jobs numbers last Friday.

Dow futures were up 24 at 12,333. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose 1 point to 1,275. The Nasdaq composite rose 8 points to 2,360.

After a perky start to the year, market sentiment has deteriorated again due to concerns about Europe’s ability to solve its debt problems.

European markets were steady Monday as the leaders of France and Germany meet to hash out a plan on restoring confidence in the euro. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are meeting for the first time this year.

Investors will want to see how the “fiscal compact” agreed in December is being fleshed out. All EU countries but Britain agreed last month to consider a new treaty to enforce tougher budget controls by March this year.

The French and German leaders stressed that they view boosting economic growth a priority as they push through with efforts to stem the eurozone’s debt crisis.

Both said they’re prepared to consider speeding up payments into the 17-nation eurozone’s permanent rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, in an effort to bolster confidence.

Germany’s DAX was down 0.2 percent at 6,046.83 while the CAC-40 in France rose 0.3 percent to 3,145.12. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.2 percent at 5,639,67.

Earlier in Asia, Chinese shares in Hong Kong and the mainland jumped sharply following a weekend government planning conference during which Premier Wen Jiabao promised to channel lending to entrepreneurs who have been battered by weak global demand.

China tightened lending and investment curbs last year to cool its overheated economy but has reversed course in recent months following a slump in global demand that has hurt exporters and led to job losses.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.5 percent at 18,865.72. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.9 percent to 2,225.89, while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 3.7 percent. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.9 percent to 1,826.49. In Japan, financial markets were closed for a public holiday.

Trading in the oil markets was fairly subdued, with benchmark crude for February delivery down 36 cents at $101.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US stock markets sank and gold soared Monday as there was still no sign of a plan to raise the US debt cap, eight days before the country could be forced into default.

Dow blue chips fell 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 lost 0.6 percent as Democratic and Republican lawmakers remained far apart on a deficit-cutting plan that would allow the country to keep borrowing and honor its commitments.

Gold and the Swiss franc — popular safe-havens when both the dollar and the euro are looking risky — both jumped.

Gold pushed up to a record $1,624 an ounce before falling back slightly to $1,614, and the greenback lost 1.6 percent to the Swiss franc, buying 0.8058 francs compared to 0.8185 francs late Friday.

US Treasury prices fell, meanwhile, though not enough to signal panic in the bond markets. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.00 percent from 2.96 percent late on Friday.

Democrats and Republicans battled again throughout Monday over whose debt-and-deficit reduction plan was better, with no apparent progress ahead of the August 2 date to avoid the government losing the ability to honor all of its commitments.

Investors and economists urged a deal urgently to prevent, at least, a downgrade of the country’s AAA standing as a borrower, and at worst, Washington being forced to pare 40 percent of its spending and defaulting on its debt.

“The odds that the United States will face a ratings downgrade, even if the debt ceiling is raised, have clearly risen,” said Nigel Gault of IHS Global Insight.

Analysts credited the central role that top-rated triple-A US Treasury bonds play in US and global markets for the still-low yields, considering the level of talk about a possible default.

They said that there is not much alternative for the banks and funds which hold them as core capital, even if they are downgraded.

Yields on short-term Treasury bills auctioned Monday were slightly higher than in recent weeks, but generally followed market trends and were no different than in June.

“The bigger picture for Treasuries, though, is that they could continue to show relative strength regardless of what happens,” said Scott Atkinson at Briefing.com.

With Europe’s weak growth and debt problems still worrying markets, there is “this strange situation where Treasuries are becoming the safety trade against themselves,” he said.

“It is good to be the king.”

Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson-ICAP, agreed.

“Treasuries are unique, nothing can take their place,” Crandall said.

“As we get closer, and the rhetoric gets more heated, there is really not much the market can do to protect themselves.”

But, in a small sign of possible bond market nervousness, the yield on a Treasury bill maturing on August 4 — two days after the expected date that the government runs out of enough money to pay all its bills — pushed upward beyond market trends for a third straight trading day.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto’s main stock index rose for a second straight session on Wednesday to its highest close in a week, encouraged by rising commodity prices and by a Portuguese bond sale that soothed jitters over European sovereign debt.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 59.16 points, or 0.44 percent, at 13,460.21. Seven of the index’s 10 main groups were higher, supported by a 0.93 percent rise in the materials sector, and a 0.64 percent advance in oil and gas.

“Commodities are all on the green side, whether it’s the base side of it like copper, or precious metals, or energy,” said Francis Campeau, broker at MF Global Canada in Montreal.

Nexen Inc added 4.6 percent to C$24.07, while EnCana gained 1.8 percent to C$29.22, spurred by oil prices that jumped to a 27-month high above $91 a barrel on an accelerated tightening of supply following production shutdowns in several oil markets.

The materials group was paced by blue chips such as fertilizer producer Potash Corp, which was up 2.66 percent at C$167.29, and Teck Resources

Markets also drew strength from the solid demand shown at Portugal’s 10-year bond auction, though fragile European debt markets still need to consider auctions in Spain and Italy this week.

“There was certainly concern about the refinancing of Portuguese bonds and that seems to be alleviated now and looks like it’s out of the way, at least temporarily,” said John Kinsey, portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities Ltd.

Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines shares surged 29.67 percent to C$17.35 after U.S.-based Cliffs Natural Resources said late on Tuesday that it will buy the Canadian miner for C$5.07 billion ($4.1 billion).

Trendy yoga-wear company Lululemon Athletica shares jumped more than 8 percent to C$71.94 after it forecast higher-than-expected quarterly results.

(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng and Solarina Ho; editing by Peter Galloway)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks drifted on Monday as investors were reluctant to push stocks higher after briefly touching another high for the year.

The dollar rose against other major currencies while the euro fell, hitting a record low against the Swiss franc and a two-week low versus the greenback as investors fretted over euro zone debt problems.

Investors were reluctant to push stocks higher after a run of solid economic data, which has pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 benchmark index up 5.4 percent for the month and 11.6 percent for the year.

“We are a little elevated here. We’ve got a little bit of a nosebleed going,” said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

Among several deal announcements, AT&T Inc (T.N) said it would buy wireless spectrum licenses from Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) in a deal worth $1.9 billion. Qualcomm rose 0.3 percent to $49.59. AT&T dipped 0.5 percent $29.05.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 29.90 points, or 0.26 percent, to 11,462.01. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) gained 0.34 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,244.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dropped 0.62 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,642.35.

U.S. markets will be closed on Friday to observe the Christmas Day holiday on Saturday.

Dow component Boeing Co (BA.N), down 2.7 percent to $63.27, kept indexes in check. Traders cited reports the plane maker’s troubled Dreamliner may be delayed once again, which could put its contracts in jeopardy with airlines.

“It sounds like some of the airlines are getting sick of the delays in this Dreamliner and that is why it is down.” added Massocca.

Raytheon Co (RTN.N) shed 0.4 percent to $44.99 after the defense contractor said it will acquire Applied Signal Technology Inc (APSG.O) for $490 million. Applied Signal shares rose 7.9 percent to $37.80.

Underscoring expectations of strong holiday spending, U.S. online sales are up 12 percent to $27.5 billion so far this season compared with a year ago.

Shares of Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O), which reports quarterly results later in the day, were up 1.9 percent to $29.34.

Food and beverage company Sara Lee Corp (SLE.N) has been in talks to sell itself to Brazilian meat producer JBS (JBSS3.SA), but the two companies are at odds over price, a source said. Sara Lee shares rose 1.4 percent to $17.50.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)